Querns and Mills in Mediterranean Antiquity. Tradition and Innovation during the First Millennium BC

Abstract

After thousands of years of exclusively grinding with a to and fro motion, several new types of mills appeared and evolved in the Mediterranean during the last millennium BC. The first centuries of this millennium saw the development of a variety of new forms for both the upper and lower stones of these early back and forth querns. Yet the main changes and innovations came later, around the middle of the millennium, with the introduction of new types of mills including the manual rotary quern, the hopper mill and the Iberian rotary pushing mill. Although the historical circumstances of this period differ between the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, these changes emerged precisely in the second half of this millennium, a timeframe characterised by a technological interaction, or lack of, between the different cultures of the Mediterranean world. The new milling systems introduced during this period represent a turning point in the history of processing cereals and other materials. However, many questions as to the causes of the introduction and evolution of these mills and their socio-economic repercussions remain unanswered. The findings of the studies in these proceedings therefore represent modest but necessary advances in this vast and compelling field of research.