Quern (5 of 8)

Querns are stone handmills used mostly for grinding cereals. This picture shows the side of the lower stone of a rotary quern found at the site of the Roman fort at Newstead in Roxburghshire. It was used sometime between 80 and 180 AD.

The picture shows the quern placed on its side, clearly showing the convex shape of the lower stone. When working, the stone would have been placed flat, with an upper stone fitted over the convex lower one. The lines on the outside were for decoration.

Querns were made of two stones. The inside faces of the two had grooves which allowed the crushed grains to be spun out from between the stones. The sloping shape of the bottom stone also helped to force the crushed grains out.

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