The Roman Reaper

Of all the various posts to this blog, one of the most popular is that regarding the mystery of the Roman reaper known as the vallus. This enigmatic tool was the Roman equivalant of Cyrus McCormick's revolutionary invention in the early 19th century.
Little is known about it except for a couple of brief written passages and fragmentary carved reliefs that depict it.
Recently, I discovered a new publication where the author attempts to draw some suppositions about the nature and history of the vallus. It is interesting reading, but I am unsure where he is getting some of his information. For instance, he writes as fact that the vallus used variations of Gallic swords as cutting implements on the machine. This is something I have not found in my research or may have missed. I wish he had included a list of his sources. It is interesting reading and adds to the further development of knowledge on this obscure subject. You can read the article here.