Millstone - Knowledge

1501: 2431: 1336:, between the 1st century B.C. and the 1st century A.D., the Celtic mill evolved into an intermediate type with two millstones superimposed and integrated, featuring a three-lobed feed opening. The more sharply tapered inner surfaces of the millstones ensured that the grains flowed more quickly under the effect of gravity, but the quality of the flour obtained remained mediocre. On the other hand, the effort required to operate the current millstone is considerable. The profile of the millstones makes them more difficult to cut, imposes a standardization of the millstones, and explains their diffusion and maintenance in a given region. Some examples feature flatter wheels, with a much reduced taper, which reduces the stone mass. The speed of rotation became higher, providing a greater 3662: 1748: 1705: 1274: 3337: 385: 772: 490:) were used to grind grains and spices. These consist of a stationary stone cylinder upon which a smaller stone cylinder rotates. Smaller ones, for household use, were operated by two people. Larger ones, for community or commercial use, used livestock to rotate the upper cylinder. Today a majority of the stone flour mills (Atta Chakki) are equipped with lower stone rotating and upper stone stationary millstones also called Shikhar Emery Stones which are made from abrasive emery grains and grits, with a binding agent similar to Sorel Cement. These stones are made from two types of emery abrasives - Natural Jaspar Red Emery or Synthetic Calcined Bauxite Black Emery. 3190: 3622: 1651: 3151: 2397: 2380: 1726: 228: 3204: 502: 727: 3640: 3213: 3532: 3293:

the runner presses down on the grain and the grinding action is increased to prevent the grain being ground too coarsely. It has the added benefit of increasing the load on the mill and so slowing it down. In the reverse case the miller may have to raise the runner stone if the grain is milled too thoroughly making it unsuitable for baking. In any case the stones should never touch during milling as this would cause them to wear down rapidly. The process of lowering and raising the runner stone is called tentering and lightering. In many windmills it is automated by adding a

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take into account the milling system used in the country of dispatch, and the type of wheat produced in the region. Once the choice has been made, production begins with the center or "boitard", which is usually made in one piece. This must be very solid, especially for the current millstone, as it is at this level that the casing on which the millstone is suspended is fixed. Around the boitard, the tiles are arranged and fixed with plaster or cement, and chiseled to fit together sufficiently. A wheel of this type is generally made up of two to six quarters. "

1675: 524:, the Soviet authorities prohibited the use of millstones, claiming that a millstone is a "mechanism for enrichment" (which was a negative term in Soviet communist ideology). This forced Ukrainian villagers to hide their manually-operated millstones and use them secretly during the famine. In response, Soviet authorities regularly searched villages for "illegal" millstones and destroyed them. In 2007, the people of Victorivka village in Cherkasy Oblast built a monument using the millstones they had managed to hide and save from the Soviet plunder during the 2350: 1453: 1423: 3558: 1487: 1059: 3247: 1409: 1953: 494: 3480: 3351: 688: 3604: 3586: 3095: 2510: 1012: 960: 3309: 3172: 455: 988: 1036: 3549: 281: 708: 3414:

Korea, a practice existed in which the husband would use a millstone while his wife was in childbirth, hoping that she could share her pain. In both the Bible and folklore, the millstone can be associated with punishment. In some instances and stories, a millstone is used to harm an individual for their behavior. Examples of millstones being used to punish individuals can be seen in "The Juniper Tree" and Judges 9:53, where one is used to kill Abimelech by tossing it on his head.

3235: 3498: 3679: 1523: 2492: 3033: 1970: 3523: 2219: 748: 1859: 1919: 1936: 62: 2452: 1088: 2470: 3226: 2182:, Gaul, and Africa, where the rotary millstone was often more widespread than the Pompeian mill. Over the course of the 4th century, the watermill slowly replaced the "blood" mill in Rome itself, becoming the predominant mill in the 2nd century. While there were some spectacular achievements in cities, such as the Barbegal mill in Arles, the watermill seems to have spread more slowly to rural villas, as 1537: 803: 463: 2343:. In this way, the mill is driven by a double movement, turning on itself while pivoting around the mast, as in the Roman trapetum. In this type of device, the millstone is monolithic or made up of a paved or even masonry surface. Depending on the product to be processed, the millstone may be slightly concave, with a rim around the periphery to avoid dispersing the crushed material. 1892:(northeastern Morocco), features grain and olive mills from the Roman period (1st century-2nd century). These mills consist of a truncated cone-shaped standing millstone and a convex grinding ring to which the wooden machinery is connected, apparently operated without the aid of animal power. In this arrangement, the grinding ring is fitted onto the lying millstone. The 933:, the place where the millstone is located was a space reserved for women. A couple often acquires, or is given, a millstone when they set up home. This acquisition represents a major expense in the life of a Mixtec peasant, as evidenced by the wills of nobles and wealthy peasants from the 16th to 18th centuries, which included metates. 1586:, and a slight gap is maintained between the two millstones. The running wheel pivots around a wooden axle embedded in the standing wheel, and it is thanks to its suspension on this axle that the gap between the two wheels is ensured. This type of millstone could be powered either by two or four men, or by animal rides, hence its name 3389:: "No one shall take a lower millstone, nor an upper millstone, in pledge , for that would be tantamount to taking away a life in pledge." The rabbis have explained that not only a millstone cannot be taken as security for a pledge, but anything in which the life of man depends cannot be taken as security for a pledge. 3282:, with which the runner stone can be lifted or lowered slightly and the gap between the stones adjusted. The weight of the runner stone is significant (up to 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb)) and it is this weight combined with the cutting action from the porous stone and the patterning that causes the milling process. 915: 438:) dates back to the 9th millennium BC. They feature larger active surfaces and mark the emergence of a new gesture, that of grinding from front to back, with both hands, which implies a new posture for the body, kneeling in front of the millstone. The appearance of large, asymmetrical, shaped millstones ( 3404:

Likewise, due to the exhausting physical labor associated with the earliest millstones, they were symbolic of hard work and accredited as a menial task given to the lowest form of a laborer. This is not the only symbolic meaning of millstones within the Bible; millstones were also used as a symbol of

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edict, the "blood" mill costed six times more than the hand mill, and the watermill eight times more. The latter therefore competed mainly with the "blood" mill, and took almost three centuries to supplant it. This was also the time it took the "blood" mill to supplant the hopper mill, and the hopper

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led to the widespread use of hand mills, which were perfected in terms of volume by increasing diameter and reducing height and weight. The profile of the millstones became flatter, and a number of improvements were introduced, such as an upper wedge to center the movable wheel on the pivot. A device

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Out of the Bible, the millstone can be seen as a symbol of transformation, death, and rebirth. This is due to the strenuous amount of work and effort that goes into utilizing a millstone to grind grain into flour. Other symbolic meanings associated with millstones include fertility and abundance. In

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in Germany, to produce picks and hammers that were particularly appreciated by millstone reworkers. During the operation, the light blows emitted a cloud of siliceous dust that could cause lung ailments in specialized workers. In addition, the cutting of millstones led to professional tattoos, with

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A very good millstone is generally rich in silica: the higher the percentage, the stronger the rock, silica being the hardest common mineral on the Earth's surface. The same is true of sandstone with siliceous cement, where the percentage of silica is high because both the grains and the cement are

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In the Mediterranean, watermills, which depended on water supply, progressed especially when they had a complement to avoid the vagaries of the dry season. In this context, windmills undoubtedly contributed to the spread of watermills as early as the 11th century in regions such as Provence and the

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Especially in the case of wind-powered mills the turning speed can be irregular. Higher speed means more grain is fed to the stones by the feed-shoe, and grain exits the stones more quickly because of their faster turning speed. The miller has to reduce the gap between the stones so more weight of

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Once the millstone blocks have been transported to the site and "peeled", the manufacturer selects the stones required for the millstone. The different pieces are classified according to their quality, taking into account hardness, grain, porosity, and color. At this stage, it is also necessary to

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Finally, millstones in the geological sense are porous stones, which play a role not only for cutting, but also undoubtedly for grinding. These include stones such as those from La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, with high porosity (20%), compressive strength of 80 MPa, and medium grain. Corfélix stones have

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located centrally on the nether millstone which acts as a pivot. Depending on the size of the installation, and to maintain the verticality of the mast, its upper part may be attached to a beam overhanging the mill. The current millstone is rotated either " by means of force", or more often, in a

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are used to adjust the height of the orbs above the bottom of the vat. In this system, the olives are not crushed under the millstone, but between the millstone and the sides of the vat. As in the previous model, a gap was maintained between the two millstones. The resistance offered by the fruit

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are generally porous, with medium to low compressive strengths, so "classic" limestones seem to have been quickly abandoned in favor of better stones. Although very fine-grained, limestone polishes very quickly and needs to be re-cut frequently to keep the stones rough. Some sandstone limestones

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In the Olynthus mill, the nether millstone(4) is rectangular, resting on a table (5); it measures between 0.42 m and 0.65 m in length, 0.36 m to 0.54 m in width and 0.08 to 0.25 m in thickness. The grinder, which forms the upper millstone (common millstone (3)), is usually rectangular, sometimes

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of water merchants; "French companies" had to inform the clerks of the names of their partners, the city of destination, and the nature and value of the cargo. Thus, on May 3, 1452, a Rouen merchant named Robert Le Cornu declared that he was bringing to Normandy one or more boats loaded with 35

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times, millers used only stone tools, a practice that persisted in some villages until the mid-20th century. The use of metal tools, probably inherited from building stonemasons, made it possible to use the hardest basalts, resulting in millstones with a lifespan of over thirty years. While the

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In Korea, there were three different millstones, each made from different materials, serving other purposes, such as threshing, grinding, and producing starch. Generally, the handle of a millstone in Korea was made from an ash tree, the process for making a handle from the ash tree was known as

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across the continent and islands, and they were traded in areas where suitable sandstone was not available in abundance. Different stones were adapted for grinding different things and varied according to location. One important use was for foods, in particular to grind seeds to make bread, but

3063:. A typical millstone will have six, eight or ten harps. The pattern of harps is repeated on the face of each stone, when they are laid face to face the patterns mesh in a kind of "scissoring" motion creating the cutting or grinding function of the stones. When in regular use stones need to be 2123:

in Africa. They slowly became marginal in some regions, but did not disappear. In classical times, they were still widely represented in Greece and were still used for hulling cereals, even if the advent of adjustable millstones meant that they could now be ground. The advance of naked wheat,

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did not replace tortillas with bread - quite the contrary. At the end of the 19th century, the owners of the large plantations introduced motorized corn mills, which freed up female labor for the fields. From 1920 onwards, electric mills appeared in the countryside, owned by municipalities,

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iron bands. Slots in the bands provide attachments for lifting. In southern England the material was imported as pieces of rock, only assembled into complete millstones in local workshops. It was necessary to balance the completed runner stone with lead weights applied to the lighter

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that rotates. The movement of the runner on top of the bedstone creates a "scissoring" action that grinds grain trapped between the stones. Millstones are constructed so that their shape and configuration help to channel ground flour to the outer edges of the mechanism for collection.

852:", whose size generally exceeds the width of the millstone and which is driven in an alternating rectilinear motion. On tripod wheels, one of the legs is slightly higher than the other two, giving the whole unit an inclination, with the user standing in front of the highest part. 1850:

forces the stone half-spheres to turn slightly on their axis; the two movements combine and the pressure is exerted only moderately, without breaking the stones, which would give bad taste. The resultant pulp could then be subjected to the action of a press to collect the oil.

2288: 2311:". On the other side of the working surface, the back of the millstone, or "counter-molding", is surrounded by a strip of sheet metal serving as temporary formwork. To give the millstone the necessary weight and thickness, it is reloaded with small stones embedded in fine 3131:. Regularly, the furrows need to be redone with a special hammer: the millstone is said to need to be rhabillaged or rebatted. This operation must be carried out after grinding around 50 tons of wheat. Special steel hardening techniques enabled certain companies, such as 564:) by grinding or milling, for consumption or technical use, has existed for several dozen millennia. Unlike crushing, in which a hard envelope such as a shell or bone is broken open to recover its contents, in this case, the aim is to reduce a much softer material to a 2333:

Horizontal use of the millstone is generally associated with milling. When the millstone is "upright", i.e. on its edge, it is used for grinding, crushing, or milling operations. In this configuration, the nether millstone is fixed by its eyebolt to a vertical

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With a diameter limited to the reach of an arm's movement, i.e. 40 to 70 cm, the hand mill could only produce a limited quantity of flour and was therefore essentially reserved for domestic use. By increasing the diameter and, above all, the height of the

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A second type of olive mill can be found on the same site, and consists of a monolithic vat on which a fluted drum turns around a vertical mast like the section of a column. This type of mill is more common and can be found on many sites, even in recent

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to the tentering gear. Depending on the type of grain to be milled and the power available the miller may adjust the feed of grain to stones beforehand by changing the amount of agitation of the feed-shoe or adjusting the size of the hopper outlet.

3266:, the central hole, of the runner stone and is taken between the runner and the bed stone to be ground. The flour exits from between the stones from the side. The stone casing prevents the flour from falling on the floor, instead it is taken to the 3109:

You tell us that your top wheels must be rifled to turn counter-clockwise. We therefore understand that these millstones must be radiused to turn counter-clockwise, i.e. in the opposite direction to that in which the sun seems to revolve around the

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Because they wear more quickly, this type of millstone requires a stricter selection of stones, among which basalt has a privileged place. Most of the stone used in Roman times seems to have come from just a few quarries. In France, millstones from

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For the manufacture of the millstone, the customer had to specify the diameter, the size of the eye and the direction of the furrows. Occasionally, a miller was mistaken about the direction of the furrows, as extracts from correspondence testify:

1131:(1) on one side of the table, the other end being operated by a worker who moves the lever (2) back and forth horizontally. The Olynthus mill thus shows the beginnings of mechanization, with millers now standing on their feet, making work easier. 879:, sugar loaves, and cocoa are ground into powder. But most preparations require grinding with water. Fruits are ground into juices, beans or boiled vegetables, ingredients are added to various spicy sauces and, above all, corn is used to make the 3070:

The major challenge is to limit the heat generated by the pressure of the millstones on the ground flour. In addition to denaturing the flour (browning), this overheating, and any sparks generated by the rubbing of the stones, could cause an

2284:". In these locations, it seems that at the beginning of the eighteenth century, millstone was not yet quarried, preferring to salvage scattered blocks from woods, fields and vineyards, which sometimes considerably increased their value. 3301:

Milling by millstones is a one-step process in contrast with roller mills in modern mass production where milling takes place in many steps. It produces wholemeal flour which can be turned into white flour by sifting to remove the

1305:" for others, and even though it was found in China in the 1st century BC. According to L.A. Moritz, the rotating grain mill only appeared in the first century BC. He bases his demonstration on Latin texts, in particular those of 251:, mortar and pestle, etc.) enables us to determine the nature of the action exerted on the material and the gesture performed; the function of the tool can then be specified, as well as the activity in which it participated. 940:, which, unlike flour, cannot be preserved. This technical characteristic no doubt explains why domestic metates were not replaced centuries ago by mills, as they were in Europe. During the wars of the 19th century and the 1351:) also appeared, enabling grinding quality to be controlled (1st century B.C.), and radii cut into the millstone could accentuate the natural abrasiveness of the stone. Later developments, such as the installation of the 3229:

1. Hopper 2. Shoe 3. Crook string 4. Shoe handle 5. Damsel 6. Eye 7. Runner stone 8. Bedstone 9. Rind 10. Mace 11. Stone spindle 12. Millstone support 13. Wooden beam 14. Casing (Tentering gear not shown)

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According to Dorothée Kleinmann, "economic milling" and its improvements really took off at the end of the 18th century. This led to the development of stone quarrying and millstone production in new regions such as

3323: 2028:) into which one or two handfuls of kernels are inserted. The circular movement is interrupted to remove the kernels after the millstone has been lifted. The whole unit can be raised on stones welded together in a " 3090:

Millstones need to be evenly balanced, and achieving the correct separation of the stones is crucial to producing good quality flour. The experienced miller will be able to adjust their separation very accurately.

2230:, Jean Bruggeman points out that medieval millstones were always monolithic, that black basalt stones were still monolithic in later centuries, and that white stones remained so until the 18th century. However, " 3262:, the shaft powering the runner stone. This mechanism regulates the feed of grain to the millstones by making the feed dependent on the speed of the runner stone. From the feed shoe the grain falls through the 3075:, whose atmosphere is charged with fine flour particles. A complex system of spokes had to be devised to ventilate the gap between the millstones and, at the same time, progressively push the material from the 1265:

and Georges Comet point out that these millstones pre-date the earliest known examples of circular grain mills. So it was probably through oil production that the first rotary crushing machine was introduced.

1224:"Women and older men then receive this ore crushed to the size of peas, throw it into the millstones, in numerous lines, two or three people standing at each lever and grind it." Photius' version specifies " 1747: 347:

As tools improved, the material was increasingly finely ground, but only when it became a real powder could we speak of grinding. Thus, the men of the European Upper Paleolithic were already dissociating

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Santi, Gambin, Renzulli (2021) "The millstone trade from the most exploited Italian volcanic areas: an overview from the phoenicians to the roman period", ANNALS OF GEOPHYSICS, 64, 5, VO551, 2021 ;

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is a quality that provides crushing asperities and evacuating channels, like hard punches held together by a slightly less hard but tenacious cement, which is not generally a characteristic of limestone;

2430: 676:, in which the movements are roughly circular and occasionally vertical, thus combining a thrown percussion and a percussion posed, are qualified here as diffuse. This is the case with the contemporary 360:

used with grinders or millstones. While there is no evidence of the milling of wild cereals in the early Upper Paleolithic, at least in Europe, there is no reason not to believe that other plant matter

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2,500 years ago(600 BC - 400 BC). It seems that the rotating millstone spread at the end of the 5th century BC from Spain, and that it was directly derived from attempts to perfect the Olynthus mill.

296:(Middle East, 19,000 B.C.) were involved in dietary processes and associated with residues of tuberous plants, which were known to require grinding before consumption, either to extract their toxins ( 3381:

Millstones were often essential objects within a community. For that reason, they gain multiple symbolic meanings and symbolism within mythology, folklore, and the bible. The Hebrew Bible admonishes

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manufacture of apod millstones from blocks of stone naturally polished in a riverbed was once within the reach of many farmers, the production of tripode metates requires specialized craftsmanship.

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We don't really know how the Greeks processed their cereals between the 1st and 4th centuries. The "blood" mill was undoubtedly widespread, as attested by the legend of Lucius' donkey, borrowed by

2396: 1601:, although it did not overtake the less efficient reciprocating millstone. Despite its qualities, it didn't really spread throughout the Roman world until later. They were found throughout the 771: 1650: 2262:

lack of wood to cook the plastre quy is not in sufficient quantity to plastrer and put in the places where it is necessary, joinct aussy that there is stone to suffice to make the millstones

207:, and are still used today. The Australian grindstones usually comprise a large flat sandstone rock (for its abrasive qualities), used with a top stone, known as a "muller", "pounder", or 3400:

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

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A first typology of milling systems can be drawn up according to the driving force used; a complementary approach will look at the social context in which the mechanism is implemented.

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In common language, "millstone" refers to any type of rock that may have been used in a mill, whereas in the geological sense, true "millstone" is defined as a siliceous accident in a

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onwards, several types of millstones can be found side by side, such as the deep "trough-shaped" millstone or the flat millstone, indicating a specialization of their function. In the

887:, i.e. dry corn kernels cooked with lime, then rinsed with water, which softens the kernels and produces a paste. Maize or nixtamal can be ground for preparations other than patties: 3127:, also cut into the stone, to make it more aggressive and thus better able to grind the grains. They run along the edge of the millstone, over a width of around 15 cm, to form the 1500: 2266:

made a deal with Claude Duvau and Jullien Boullmer, stone molders to supply them with 2 molds of molding stone and plaster to make the millstones made and perfect to make flour

377:) were already being ground into paste before cooking. Similarly, it's likely that millstones were being used at this time for technical purposes, to crush mineral substances ( 2638:, such as Alpine molasses, are widespread. They have medium porosities (6 to 12%), medium compressive strength (35 MPa), often coarse grain size, and variable silica content. 3392:

The Bible heavily utilized millstone symbolism within its various proverbs. A common one is the millstone's proverbial designation of something as a great weight, as seen in

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This type of mill certainly appeared as early as the beginning of the 5th century BC. Its use was widespread throughout the Greek civilization in the 4th century B.C., from

1166:, dated to the end of the 4th century BC. Increasing demand undoubtedly led to standardization in manufacturing and specialization of production centers. For example, flat 2664:, resulting in somewhat compact sandstones. Compressive strength can be very high (over 100 MPa), as in the case of Arros sandstone, despite an average silica percentage. 4233:

CHAUSSAT, Alain-Gilles. 2008. Les meules à main rotatives: Collection du musée de Saint-Michel-de-Monjoie dans la Manche, Université de Caen Basse-Normandie, p. 120.

2967:. Derbyshire Peak stones wear quickly and are typically used to grind animal feed since they leave stone powder in the flour, making it undesirable for human consumption. 3621: 3557: 3112:". Despite all the precautions taken at the time of ordering, it sometimes happened that, in the event of a dispute, we were obliged to travel to change the direction: " 1112: 4517:

Ordinary concrete has a compressive strength of around 35 MPa, while high-performance concrete used for high-rise buildings has a compressive strength of around 80 MPa.

1058: 2682:), the action of moisture (as in the case of limestone), or the chemical action of water, as in the case of granite mica or Vosges sandstone (presence of iron) ; 1536: 2990:, were introduced during the nineteenth century; they were found to be more suitable for grinding at the higher speeds available when auxiliary engines were adopted. 3967:"Intensive milling practices in the Romano-British landscape of southern England. Using newly established criteria for distinguishing millstones from rotary querns" 1422: 1725: 1262: 3661: 2197:

world, and the codification of Diocletian's edict in the 2nd century, which established three types of mills (hand, blood, and water), can still be found in the

1340:, but also requiring the installation of a system of claws fixed with molten lead on the upper side of the movable wheel, to hold it in place around the pivot. 2198: 959: 277:

period onwards (circa 29,000 years), this equipment became more diversified, with the appearance of new types of tools such as millstones and pestle grinders.

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Two square-section iron boxes (arm fasteners) held the levers, which were secured by a wooden peg slid into the round-section hole running right through them.

514:"Mulpure-namu". To ensure that everything is "all right" with the creation of a millstone, a mason within ancient Kora offered food and alcohol in a ritual. 1704: 1162:

suggest. The importance of this mill type for the Greek world was confirmed by the discovery, in 1967, of 22 hopper mills in the cargo of a ship wrecked off

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Here we find an example of the influence of a technical system on a social system, like the hitching system described by Major Richard Lefebvre des Noëttes

2694:, which facilitates quarrying, as it is easier to introduce cutting tools into porous rock than into solid rock, but also undoubtedly facilitates grinding. 2579:, such as granite, are widespread, but were ultimately little used for millstone manufacture, probably due to their low porosity and the presence of black 2559:. The latter soon emerged as the stones of choice, with porosities that make them easy to shape and extraction that can be facilitated by bedding between 1636:

During the Late Antiquity, the donkey mill retreated, probably disappearing after the 5th century as a result of the expansion of the watermill, then the

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oval, with a central hopper parallel to the long sides, designed to receive the grain to be ground. The mill is capped by a horizontal axle attached to a

5142: 4443: 3469:("mill-iron") or millrind, which attaches to the millstone and transfers to it the torque of the drive-shaft, is also a common heraldic charge, used as 509:. The monument is made from millstones that the villagers hid and used in secret, as the Soviet authorities had prohibited their use during the famine. 160:

Often referred to as the "oldest industry", the use of the millstone is inextricably linked to human history. Integrated into food processes since the

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differs from the grain millstone by having oblique striations on the truncated surface of the lying millstone and on the inside of the grinding ring.

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periods. It gradually evolved into the heavy, generally wooden, thrown pestle. This type of equipment is still used today in many regions, such as in

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rabbet. Wheat millstones have long been used to grind cereals in a single pass. We had to find the best way of extracting the flour and cleaning the

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siliceous in nature. However, they don't necessarily make good millstones, like Vosges sandstone, which has a rather fine grain and traces of iron.

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fixed to the center of the millstone (14th - 15th centuries), meant that this type of hand mill was used in the countryside until the 20th century.

848:, apodous, or tripod, rectangular, and slightly concave on the grinding surface. These millstones are associated with a two-handed wheel, called a " 1035: 5151: 3699: 3189: 1322:

Several types of mills can be identified in Europe, depending on the morphology of the millstones used in these manually operated rotary mills.

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people were already using rudimentary tools to crush various substances, as attested by the presence of rudimentary grinders at the end of the

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suggest: it was also used to grind ore, so as to calibrate it for subsequent selection by washing. It may even have appeared in the mines of

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in Blanchemanche Philippe. Georges Cornet, "Le paysan et son outil. Essai d'histoire technique des céréales (France, 8th - 15th century)",

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The following table presents some examples of geological and petrophysical data obtained from sites used for the production of millstones:

4136:"«Moliendo en ibero, moliendo en griego»: aculturación y resistencia tecnológica en el Mediterráneo occidental durante la Edad del Hierro" 3639: 2624:

up to 1 cm) are the preferred material for millstones. Analysis of production sites shows that they can be limestone-cemented sandstones,

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Millstones were introduced to Britain by the Romans during the 1st century AD and were widely used there from the 3rd century AD onwards.

5159: 3571: 4545:"Les meulières. Recherche, protection et valorisation d'un patrimoine industriel européen (Ancient times-21st century)", Grenoble 2005. 4508:"Les meulières. Recherche, protection et valorisation d'un patrimoine industriel européen (Ancient times-21st century)", Grenoble 2005. 2668:

exceptional compressive strength on the order of solid basalt (190 MPa), 98% silica, fairly coarse grain, and medium to high porosity.

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In fact, the invention of millstones made of pieces, i.e. an assembly of several stones or tiles, remains difficult to date precisely.

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we sent a workman a hundred leagues from here to unravel, straighten and re-radiate two pairs of millstone; the profit is eaten twice

1116: 320:, also found on this site, benefit from being ground to improve their nutritional qualities; they thus complemented the meat diet of 2551:

On a historical scale, it seems that most types of rock have been used in milling. Among the sedimentary rocks of potential use are

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millstones are always formed by joining several pieces together; there are no blocks large enough to make masses from a single piece

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in northern France. The millstones are not cut from one piece, but built up from sections of quartz cemented together, backed with

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in the Late Roman period, compared with 250 denarii for hand millstones - meant that they were only used by millers and bakers. In

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The basic anatomy of a millstone. This is a runner stone; a bedstone would not have the "Spanish Cross" into which the supporting

4211:, edited by M.-Cl. Amouretti and G. Comet, 15–23. Cahiers d'histoire des techniques 3. Aix en Provence: L'Université de Provence. 5189: 5125: 2124:

particularly common wheat, in Italy and Egypt made them less useful, but they were still mentioned in the Late Roman Empire, in

3254:

Grain is fed by gravity from the hopper into the feed-shoe. The shoe is agitated by a shoe handle running against an agitator (

407:

eras, with the domestication of plants, much larger, fully formed grinding, pounding, and milling equipment appeared. From the

5260: 4966: 4468: 3603: 4576: 3531: 2857: 2183: 1969: 1952: 747: 2413: 1829:) whose walls follow the external profile of the two common millstones. The orbs can move in a circular motion inside the 482:, pathologies associated with long periods of bending while grinding, supporting the theory that early humans practiced a 5136:. International symposium, Grenoble - Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th September 2005 - Maison des Sciences de l'Homme-Alpes. 2379: 1582:, with its lower half covering the conical top of the nether millstone. The upper part of the runner millstone acts as a 1398:

In Europe as a whole, the hand mill remained the main milling method until the end of Antiquity, and then throughout the

4715: 2491: 4856: 3479: 1522: 1291:

the transformation of rectilinear reciprocating motion into circular-continuous motion leads to another form of milling

165: 2256:

Various texts provide clues to the manufacture of millstones in the 17th century. On March 10, 1647, Jacques Vinault "

5033: 5018: 5003: 4988: 4951: 4936: 4804: 4606: 4096: 2178:

describes. Over the course of the 1st and 2nd centuries, the watermill slowly spread to a wide variety of provinces:

1794:

was precisely described by Cato the Elder, who gave us the technical names of all its parts. Excavations at Stabies,

687: 3850: 3497: 1273: 5233: 4631: 4207:

Alonso Martinez, N. 1995. "Les premières meules rotatives manuelles dans le nord-est de la péninsule Iberique." In

3585: 4824: 4708: 2260:" to Pierre Bailly. On March 26, 1652, another text evokes the difficulties of a millstone assembly site, with a " 2170:

classed it with irrigation machines. This type of mill proved ill-suited to the design of Pompeian millstones. In

5225: 5215: 4976:, Centre de recherches d'histoire et de philologie de la IVe section de l'École pratique des hautes études, 1964. 4539:

Analyses pétrographiques et mécaniques d'un ensemble de roches meulières utilisées en France à l'époque médiévale

4502:

Analyses pétrographiques et mécaniques d'un ensemble de roches meulières utilisées en France à l'époque médiévale

4161:

Rodríguez Díaz, Alonso; Pavón Soldevila, Ignacio; Duque Espino, David M.; Ponce de León Iglesias, Moisés (2014).

2000:

It stands out from the grain mill thanks to the truncated cone shape and greater height of its runner millstone (

953:

or private individuals. However, still in use today, nether millstones are still part of Mexico's rural heritage.

384: 17: 2451: 135:

or rynd) fixed to a "mace head" topping the main shaft or spindle leading to the driving mechanism of the mill (

4253: 3023:

from Orvieto (Italy), Mount Etna and Hyblaean Mounts (Sicily), and Pantelleria island, were used by the Romans.

164:, its use remained constant until the end of the 19th century, when it was gradually replaced by a new type of 2032:"-style architecture, allowing embers or argan shells to warm the unit, thus facilitating grinding in winter. 5433: 5139: 4440: 4306: 1313:, and fixes the introduction of this type between the time of Plautus' death in 184BC and the composition of 707: 4832: 1408: 1329:

is made up of massive millstones, with a conical external profile and virtually flat active stone surfaces.

505:

Monument in the village of Victorivka (Вікторівка) in memory of the victims of the man-made famine known as

5443: 4492:

In this case, at least one of the two planes of the grinding wheel is roughened, which facilitates shaping.

3768: 2469: 1908:), as they can be lowered or raised according to the size of the fruit, so as to avoid crushing the stone. 670:, using percussion, which are performed in a circular, disordered, or back-and-forth motion on a millstone; 270: 5164: 5131:

Millstones. Recherche, protection et valorisation d'un patrimoine industriel européen (Antiquité-xxie s.)

2964: 2925: 1214: 641:

defines several families of gestures, three of which are essential for the preparation of raw materials:

194:, dating back around 60,000 years. Grinding stones or grindstones, as they were called, were used by the 4944:

La Pierre à pain. Les carrières de meules de moulins en France, du Moyen ge à la révolution industrielle

3825: 2731: 2587:. Basalt was widely used in Germany (Eifel), but is not widespread in France, with the exception of the 2158:, which praised the advantages of its site in order to retain its privileges, states that it possesses " 5173: 4273: 31: 3322: 1918: 652:

using a heavy, elongated object in the manner of the African pestle. This gesture is also used by the

5453: 5253: 5197: 3788: 3741: 1253:

According to de Barry, the oldest circular stone millstone was unearthed in the ruins of the town of

944:, Mexican armies were accompanied by women and metates to ensure the stewardship of the country; the 483: 3711: 3308: 1661: 1108: 2994:

In Europe, a further type of millstone was used. These were uncommon in Britain, but not unknown:

5438: 5097: 4792: 3793: 3746: 3593: 3010: 2541: 1935: 442:, Sheikh Hassan, circa 10,000 BP) led to the "saddle-shaped" millstones still known today as the 304: 5042:"A Relief of a Water-powered Stone Saw Mill on a Sarcophagus at Hierapolis and its Implications" 4899: 4377: 3456:

A mill-stone argent pecked sable the inner circle and the rim of the second the fer-de-moline or

2795: 1578:

In this mill, the nether millstone is conical at the top and the runner millstone looks like an

571:

Depending on the place and time, millstones were used for "dry" grinding: in the manufacture of

5448: 5148: 4876: 4160: 3707: 3056:. The grooves provide a cutting edge and help to channel the ground flour out from the stones. 2826: 2671:

In a nutshell, for the rock mechanics, a good millstone has three fundamental characteristics:

2621: 195: 46: 5178: 4162: 4135: 2612:(Saint-Julien-des-Molières limestone) can have very good compressive strength (over 100 MPa). 1286: 1154:. It continued into the 1st century B.C., and sometimes even later, as the excavations at the 638: 227: 5269: 4796: 4681: 4107: 4010: 3801: 3754: 3430: 2963:; imitation Derbyshire Peak stones are used as decorative signposts at the boundaries of the 2150:

It seems that the watermill originated in the Eastern Mediterranean. An inscription from the

2129: 501: 212: 4220:

Rafael Frankel: The Olynthus Mill, Its Origin, and Diffusion: Typology and Distribution, in

3629: 3458:. Thus symbolising super-human strength necessary to support such a weight atop his helmet. 3203: 2403:"Apple lathe" driven by a horse. Ring-shaped trough serving as a lying millstone. The Elms, 1825:) at the center of a large hemispherical mortar (4). The lying millstone is a stone vat (4, 1817:), standing vertically, supported by a horizontal axis rotating around a vertical pivot (1, 1618: 5246: 5085: 5079: 3858: 3564:

Ancient communal mills (Lambert mills) for oil, fulling, wheat, on the Siagnole, Mons (Var)

3294: 3212: 2641: 2029: 1986: 1889: 1869: 1567:(runner millstone), the Romans were able to overcome this constraint with the animal-drawn 1100: 186:

The earliest evidence for stones used to grind food is found in northern Australia, at the

175: 3180: 2301:

When the job is done and the blocks match, the worker adjusts them by cementing them with

2244:

In the 15th century, the river trade passing through Paris was strictly controlled by the

2115:

Mortars and pestles have survived the centuries and are predominant for barley in Greece,

8: 5202: 3451: 2238:, encased in an iron or wooden casing, and sometimes placed on a bed of cemented bricks. 1602: 1594: 1242:

It's also known as a "hand millstone", "arm millstone" or "moulinet", and in Latin as a "

474:

archaeological site, as early as the 8th millennium BC, women's skeletons show traces of

232: 3647: 3446:, as a demonstration of military bravado, a millstone features as the heraldic crest of 3270:

from where it can be bagged or processed further. The runner stone is supported by the

1787:, and excavations at Olynthus have revealed examples dating back to the 5th century BC. 1091:

Olynthus mill: 1. Pivot 2. Lever 3. Running wheel with hopper 4. Grinding wheel 5. Table

5130: 4828: 4542: 4505: 4091:, Marie-Claire Amouretti and Georges Comet, Éditions EDISUD (Aix-en-Provence, France), 3986: 3426: 2133: 1776: 1657: 1179: 1135: 941: 829:. It has been used for several thousand years (around 3000 BC) in the cultural area of 5156: 4974:

Les sources statistiques de l'histoire de France - Des enquêtes du xviie siècle à 1870

2193:

and Apuleius. The coexistence of several types of milling seems to be the rule in the

2024:) made of argan wood, around which the upper millstone rotates, pierced by an eyelet ( 262: 52:

This article is about stones used to grind grains. For roadside distance markers, see

5122: 5029: 5014: 4999: 4984: 4962: 4947: 4932: 4852: 4800: 4627: 4602: 4572: 4555: 4464: 4170: 4143: 4092: 3990: 3771:- "His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone." 3735: 3462: 3239: 2522: 2273: 2227: 2151: 1989:

is a woodland species endemic to southwest Morocco. The technical environment of the

966: 856: 677: 649: 389: 317: 161: 4782: 3782: 3690: 1197:

The use of this type of mill was not limited to grinding cereals, as the finds from

219:, and berries, as well as insects, small mammals, and reptiles before cooking them. 4483:

Limestone or sandstone for construction stones have porosities of the order of 20%.

3978: 3947: 2245: 2234:" were sometimes made up of several irregularly-shaped pieces. These were bound in 1630: 1598: 1218: 479: 471: 420: 408: 298: 244: 180: 5117: 5102: 4526:

Strictly speaking, sandstones are defined as rocks with grain sizes of up to 2 mm.

2660:

Slightly metamorphosed sandstones often have very low porosity (around 2%) due to

2160:

thanks to the slope of the waters flowing through it, a large number of watermills

5112: 4920: 4719: 4447: 4384: 3910:

Theya Molleson, "Seed preparation in the Mesolithic: the osteological evidence",

3539: 2862: 2831: 2800: 2625: 2302: 2277: 1779:

period also saw the appearance of the olive crusher, which the Romans called the

1665: 1605:, but never in very large numbers, except in Italy. Their very high cost - 1,250 1315: 864: 619: 600: 493: 416: 337: 321: 302:, nutsedge), or to remove the fibrous texture that would make them indigestible ( 273:

man regularly used millstones, elongated grinders, and circular wheels. From the

3932: 3814:

Jean-Pierre Henri Azéma, Actes du colloque de La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, p. 424

3246: 2758: 799:, mills operated using "strength-powered", i.e. the force of animals or people. 626:. During preparation, some raw materials produce a naturally fluid paste, as in 5343: 5186: 5059: 4196: 3915: 3384: 3072: 2979: 2956: 2529: 2335: 1803: 1376: 1310: 1206: 1128: 1120: 945: 930: 475: 431: 333: 293: 42: 3982: 2533: 2509: 1806:

show that the system was widely used in ancient Rome and disappeared with it.

5427: 5107: 4788: 4712: 4647: 4174: 4147: 3274:, a cross- shaped metal piece, on the spindle. The spindle is carried by the 2893: 2570:

began to be quarried, a practice that became widespread in the 18th century.

1364: 1210: 1047: 755: 204: 5011:

Archéologie du vin et de l'huile. De la préhistoire à l'époque hellénistique

4328:

Archéologie du vin et de l'huile. De la préhistoire à l'époque hellénistique

3883:, 1986-1989, Dallas, (with R. Schild). SMU Press (Assembler and Contributor) 3171: 3094: 280: 168:. However, it can still be seen in rural domestic installations, such as in 4669: 3668: 3548: 3470: 3234: 2987: 2971: 2629: 2575: 2563: 2136:. With the arrival of maize, they were once again used in certain regions. 1993:

covers its range. It's a stone hand mill used to grind roasted kernels and

1343: 1293:". Some authors do not agree on its geographical origin, located for some " 1183: 1163: 1107:" has come to be attached to this type of mill, which represents a genuine 867:. Dry grinding is possible, but very few recipes are produced in this way: 657: 623: 4750: