Quern (8 of 8)

Querns are stone handmills used mostly for grinding cereals. This picture shows 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 rotary quern was made of two stones. The bottom one was stationary, while the upper one was turned, using the iron handle protruding from the side. The grain was poured into the central hole, and crushed grains were forced out from between the two stones.

The earliest type of quern, the saddle quern, was used from around 3800 BC. In the late centuries BC, it was replaced by the more efficient rotary quern. Rotary querns occur in various shapes and sizes. They were used in Scotland until this century.

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