Quern

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Querns are stone handmills used mostly for grinding cereals. This picture shows the upper stone of a rotary quern found at Balmaclellan in Galloway, close to a hoard of Iron Age metal objects. It dates from between 50 and 340 AD.

The quern has been decorated with an equal-armed cross. The two holes near the edge were for inserting a handle to turn the stone.

Quernstones were an essential tool, widely used in Scotland into this century, especially on rural sites. They were an effective, if laborious, method for grinding. Some quernstones in the first millennium AD were widely traded.

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• Online ID: 000-100-033-279-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  X.BB 7
• Date: Between 50 and 340 AD
  
• Material: Sandstone, red; ornamented cross on upper face
  Quern, rotary / stone, upper
  
• Dimensions: 14.00" D
  
• What: Quern, rotary / stone, upper
  
• Subject:
• Who:
• Where: Scotland, Kirkcudbrightshire, Balmaclellan
  
• Event:
• Description: Upper stone from a rotary quern ornamented with an equal-armed cross, from Balmaclellan
  
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