Any: 2019 Núm. extra: 4

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Open Access
A 13th-century hydraulic ore mill at the mining site of Brandes (Isère), France
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Minvielle-Larousse, Nicolas
This paper presents the results of the excavation of an ore grinding watermill brought to light in Sector B 121 of the industrial quarter of the mining town of Brandes (Isère, France). The mill, dated by dendrochronology the 13th century AD, was driven with water channelled from the Font-Morelle spring. The head-race and spillway are examples of the opportunistic reuse of earlier anthropic (canal and mining trench) or natural (faults and karsts) features. The tail-race was not totally excavated. The mill-house (drywall and timber construction) is poorly conserved and the millstone driving mechanisms are difficult to interpret. A series of features suggest the use of a horizontal water wheel driven counterclockwise by a jet of water guided through a flume. A large number of millstone fragments and flakes were studied in a previous article.
Open Access
A brief overview of archaeological research on ancient mills and miling in Spain
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Alonso, Natàlia; Anderson, Timothy J.
This article presents a brief review of the history of research on archaeological mills and milling in the Iberian Peninsula. As elsewhere in Europe, molinological research began discretely in the 18th century. Early work was carried out by prestigious researchers including the Siret brothers, P. Bosch Gimpera and V. G. Childe. The seminal article by this last scholar, based on the research of Bosch Gimpera, introduced the notion which still stands today of a Western Mediterranean origin for the rotary mill. Another molinological milestone in Iberia was this research carried out by F . de Avilés, then director of the National Museum of Archaeology at Madrid. The findings of his vast data base in the form of a questionnaire sent out different archaeological institutions throughout the Peninsula, alas, remained incomplete and unpublished until it was presented by L. Berrocal more than a half century later. The turn of the millennium has seen a renewed interest on the subject as evidenced by six doctoral dissertations exploring different molinological aspects.
Open Access
A comparison of two Turkish grinding stone assembleages: Kilise Tepe, Mut and Kinet Höyüt, Dörtyol
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Helsop, David
Kilese Tepe and Kinet Höyük are important multi-period sites in south-east Turkey that produced important assemblages of querns. These were analysed to provide insights into the source of the lithology, evidence for patterns of usage and fragmentation, and clues to the uptake of technological innovations.
Open Access
A first study of the millstones of the Greek Colony of Megara Hybkaea (Sicily)
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Chaigneau, Chloé
Megara Hyblaea, one of the first Greek settlements in Sicily, has a large and diverse assemblage of millstones: saddle querns, Olynthus mills, Morgantina mills, Delian mills, rotary querns and possibly a Pompeian mill. This diversity of mill types is the result of the long occupation of the site and the confluence in Sicily of Greek, Punic and Roman cultures and a variety of food processing traditions.
Open Access
American millstones similar to the French burr: 19th century attempts to find substitutes
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Hockensmith, Charles D.
During the early to mid 19th century, attempts were made in the United States to locate local sources of stone that were comparable in texture or appearance to that of the well known French burr millstone. These searches were primarily motivated by economic reasons. The early literature mentions local stone sources in several states that was described as similar in appearance or quality to the French burr. This paper compiles information on local millstones comparable to the French burr in the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Most of these ventures had limited success on the local level. However, in Georgia, Ohio, and Kentucky the millstones were manufactured in larger quantities and distributed over larger geographical areas. Despite the effort expended in these pursuits, these local millstones proved inferior to the French burr which retained its high status among American millers.
Open Access
Bringing millstones to America: 19th century use of Norwgian mica-schist millstones in the United States
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Hannibal, Joseph T.
Norwegian mica-schist millstones are preserved at two sites in the upper Midwest of the United States, the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Iowa, and Beckman Mill in Wisconsin. Based on their mineral composition, the stone for these millstones was quarried at two classic Norwegian mica-schist millstone quarry regions, Hyllestad and Selbu. These millstones were brought to the American Midwest at a time when commercial mills were scarce and when wheat was a key crop.
Open Access
Crossing the bridge: Notes on development of the rynd
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Watts, Martin
The mill rynd or bridge is probably the most important fitting in a corn mill: it carries the upper millstone on the head of the spindle and enables it to be turned by the machinery of the mill. Although it is therefore an essential component of milling technology, its development has received little attention or analysis. This paper considers the development of the rynd from the earliest power-driven millstones in the Roman period through to the introduction of sophisticated forms in the late 18th and early-mid 19th centuries. This development is witnessed not only in the physical survival of mill rynds themselves but also in the negative information found in the shapes of the recesses which were cut in the faces of millstones to locate them. A range of sources, including depictions of rynds in medieval wall paintings and their use as heraldic charges, is also explored.
Open Access
Early grinding systems in North -Western Europe: A critical review of 15 years of techno-functional research
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Hamon, Caroline
The alluvial valleys and loess plateaux of North-Western Europe were first colonised at the end of the 6th millennium BC by agricultural populations from Central Europe. They introduced a number of farming, architectural, craft and food processing techniques. Among their material culture, macrolithic tools played a major role as seen by polishers, symbols of the new technique of polished stone. They also introduced querns, tools essential to process cereals. This study of the Early Neolithic querns in this part of Europe aims to advance the understanding of technical systems and the economy of early Neolithic societies.
Open Access
Early rotary querns in South-Western Norway
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Hauken, Åsa Dahlin; Anderson, Timothy J.
This paper presents the corpus of prehistoric rotary querns stored in the Museum of Archaeology of Stavanger, the largest collection of this type of mill in Norway. Most are linked to excavations carried out of early longhouses by Jan Petersen in the early half of the 20th century. The study focuses in part on the question of the introduction of the rotary movement of mills in Norway and quern production based on surface materials predating the direct extractive process identified at the medieval quarry district of Hyllestad.
Open Access
Inscribed Pompeian millstones from Tarragona, Spain
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Gorostidi, Diana; López Vilar, Jordi; Royo Plumed, Hernando
This paper presents a small assemblage of inscribed Pompeian millstones from Roman Tarraco and its surroundings (Tarragona, Spain). Pompeian millstones are not common in the Spanish Peninsula. Furthermore, most are long-distance imports from volcanic quarry districts elsewhere in the Mediterranean, notably the Vulsini sector near Orvieto (north of Rome) characterised by leucite crystals. Inscribed millstones are even less common in Hispania. The three cases presented in this paper (two catilli and one meta), with clear links to Italy, are the only known examples to date bearing inscriptions in Spain. This paper also establishes that inscription analyses, in conjunction with typological and petrological studies, can serve in resolving the complex process of millstone provenancing and dating.
Open Access
Ireland's longest serving millstone quarry? Millstone Mountain in the Mourn Mountains, Co. Down, Nothern Ireland
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Colfer, Niall
This paper comprises a detailed case study focusing on millstone production in the Mourne Mountains, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, with a specifi c focus on the quarry located on the aptly named Millstone Mountain on the eastern side of the mountain range. Both medieval and post-medieval production techniques and millstone sizes, which differed signifi cantly, are discussed. Research questions concerning quarry placement, geology, transport and chronology of exploitation are addressed. Discussion of post-medieval economic environment in the northeast corner of Ireland is provided with a distribution of known granite millstones surviving within the wider landscape.
Open Access
Norwegian millstone quarries in the face of European competition and cooperation 18th - 19 centuries
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Belmont, Alain
Although geographically outside the heart of Europe, Norwegian millstone production was far from isolated from the rest of the continent. This article is based on research undertaken in French historical archives, a series of 18th- and 19th-century written sources, fi eldwork, and the comparison of Norwegian millstone quarries with over hundreds of millstone quarries recorded throughout Europe. The initial results indicate that Norwegian millstone quarries were subject to the same international rules of commerce as their contemporary counterparts. Norway therefore exported their millstones at certain periods of time and were subject to the import of foreign millstones at others.
Open Access
Quern and millstones from the Iberian Iron Age settlement of Cerro de la Cruz, Almedinilla, Córdoba, Spain
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Kavanagh, Eduardo; Lanz Domínguez, Mercedes; Quesada Sanz, Fernando
This paper presents an assemblage of Iron Age grinding stones from the Iron Age settlement of Cerro de la Cruz, Almedinilla, Córdoba (Spain). This Iberian Culture site dating from the 2nd century BC suffered a sudden violent destruction that left a number of its features, including mills, in their original working position. The assemblage comprises both manually driven rotary querns and larger millstones at times on podia driven from a standing position. This study also advances several spatial, economic and social analysis considerations, as well as an analysis of the seeds collected in the vicinity of one on the mills.
Open Access
Recent research on quern and millstone quarries in Majorca and Minorca (Balearic Islands, Spain)
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Sánchez Navarro, Joaquín
This paper presents the most recent research on querns and millstone quarries carried out in the Balearic Islands of Minorca and Majorca (Spain) since the article published in the proceedings of the Rome colloquium (Sánchez 2011). Twenty-five new extraction sites have been identified (7 in Minorca and 18 in Majorca) raising the total to 64 for both islands. Certain quarries produced thousands of rotary querns, whereas other smaller sites only produced a few. The stones were meant either to grind grains for bread or for animal fodder. Others served the olive oil industry. In Minorca, the querns and millstones were hewn from dune and reef rock deposits. In Majorca, in addition these two types of rock deposits, millstone workings included a variety of limestones, dolomites, sandstones, conglomerates and siliceous stones. Each new site is described according to its lithology and origin (Quaternary eolianites, Pliocene Upper Miocene Tertiary reefs and limestones from the Jurassic). Quarry dating is particularly difficult. At times it can be deduced from comparison with millstones from archaeological excavations. The recently identified modern chert workings in Majorca produced composite millstones in the manner of imported French burrs. The pit quarries exploiting chert are very recent, dated by texts and interviews with local residents. Their millstones served, depending on their quality, to grind either grains for bread, cereals for animal fodder or calcined limestone for cement.
Open Access
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.
Open Access
Rotary quern and millstone roughouts beyond their quarries
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Jaccottey, Luc; Jodry, Florent; Dumont, Annie; Moyat, Philippe
Groups of unfinished quern and millstones (roughouts) have been recovered in Western Europe in the sea, in rivers and along ancient roads. They have also been unearthed during archaeological excavations of cities and rural sites. These different assemblages share similarities: the grinding surfaces are not finished, the eyes are rarely pierced and the handle holes are not cut. These groups evidence a segmentation of the operational sequence of production in Antiquity, from block extraction to their sale, with the transport of unfinished products and final shaping taking place in workshops beyond the quarry near their place of use. This model differs from that in the Middle Ages where millstones were transported in a finished form.
Open Access
Rotary querns and millstones in South-West England
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Watts, Susan; Watts, Martin
The south-west of England comprises some of the most varied geology in the British Isles. This has not only given rise to a diverse landscape but has also provided the region with various sources of stone suitable for the production of milling stones. Analysis of the different types of stone that were used for the manufacture of rotary querns and millstones in the south-west of England shows two main trends. Firstly, a preference, whether by necessity or desirability, for locally sourced stones. Secondly, the introduction of and, despite their higher cost, the increased importation of French millstones from the medieval period onwards. This is coupled with an increasing use of stones of Millstone Grit from northern England in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was the importation of these millstones that was to lead ultimately to the demise of the local millstone making industries.
Open Access
The quern and millstone quarries of Bibracte and Autun: The case of Saint-Andeux (CÙte-díOr, Burgondy, France)
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Jaccottey, Luc; Farget, Virginie; Fronteau, Gilles; Beuchot, Sylvain; Boyer, François; Cherot, Coralie
The millstone research carried out at the oppidum of Bibracte has recently been bolstered by finds deriving from preventive archaeology carried out at the Roman city of Autun. A new phase of this research has focused on the quern and millstone quarries supplying the two centres. Among the quarries is the vast vaugnerite outcrop of Bois de Joux at Saint-Andeux (Côte-d’Or). Field surveys identified two sectors producing mostly rotary querns dating to the Late Iron Age and Antiquity. Examining the roughouts renders it possible to reconstruct the operational sequence of their manufacture while the study of the quarries offers data to distinguish the Late Iron Age from the Roman quarries and identify their sequences of production.
Open Access
The quern quarry of La Calera (Agaete, Gran Canaria, Spain): Working volcanic tuff with stone tools
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Naranjo-Mayor, Yurena; Rodríguez Rodríguez, Amelia; Francisco Ortega, Isabel
This paper identifies the operational sequence of volcanic tuff rotary quern production on the Island of Gran Canaria. This is carried out by analysing the tool marks on the face of the La Calera (Agaete) quarry and the abandoned quern roughouts. Stone implements served in all of the stages of quern manufacture as metal tools were unknown in Pre-European Gran Canaria.
Open Access
The volcanic rock grinding stones from Selinunte, Sicily (Italy): Archaeological evidence and geochemical provenance analyses
(Universitat de Lleida. Departament d'Història. Secció d'Arqueologia, Prehistòria i Història Antiga, 2019) Schwall, Christoph; Gluhak, Tatjana M.
This study is based on the assemblage of grinding stones from the Greek colony of Selinunte in Sicily. Most were brought to light in well stratified contexts dating to the 6th century BC making them ideal subjects for research on the development of early milling techniques. In addition to saddle querns, Selinunte has Olynthus mills and mills driven by rotary motion were discovered in previous excavations that are also representative of advances in milling technology. The Selinunte assemblage can be compared to contemporary mills from elsewhere throughout the Mediterranean Basin. Based on these comparisons, we suggest a saddle type of mill model comprising of a boat-shaped upper stone and a roughly rectangular-shaped lower stone as a precursor of the Olynthus mill. The sources of the rock point to mainland Sicily, the Aeolian Islands and perhaps from the Aegean Islands bolstering the supposed importance of this coastal settlement as a centre of trade in the central Mediterranean.