ABSTRACT
Ethiopia, in the period covered by this volume, was an almost entirely agricultural and pastoral country, the beauty, and diversity, of which can only inadequately be suggested in these pages. Agriculture in the northern and central highlands was based largely on ox-drawn ploughs, though various types of “digging sticks” were also in use in some areas. Harvesting was usually carried out with the help of sickles. Crops would be protected from monkeys and other animal predators by youths with slings, while threshing would be carried out by cattle who would walk round and round on rural threshing floors.
