Any: 2019 Núm. extra: 4

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Roman grinding stones from Northern Britain with two opposed perforations
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Cruse, John
Two different designs are considered. The first, a rotary hand quern with characteristic D-shaped hoppers, is described and its links to the Earlier Roman military supply system are explored. The second is a powered millstone, but without hoppers, mainly from later Roman contexts. Evidence that its opposed perforations were twin feed-pipes is reviewed and its distribution along Roman roads, near good agricultural land is examined. Whilst earlier hand querns with twin feed-pipes are known in the Rhineland, the design appears to evolve independently in northern Britain. Suggestions are made for naming the two hand quern variants. Comparable millstones are also reported in Germany. As more examples of both designs are recognised, their study could improve our understanding of the Earlier Roman military support system and of aspects of later Roman economic activity.