6533b7dafe1ef96bd126f30a

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Rotary quern and millstone roughouts beyond their quarries

subject

description

Anderson, T.J., Alonso, N. (eds), Tilting at Mills: The Archaeology and Geology of Mills and Milling. Revista d’Arqueologia de Ponent. Número Extra 4, 2019. ISBN: 9788491440291 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.