Editing Millstone (section)

== History ==

=== The origins of an industry ===
Often referred to as the "oldest industry", the use of the millstone is inextricably linked to human history. Integrated into food processes since the [[Upper Paleolithic|Upper Palaeolithic]], its use remained constant until the end of the 19th century, when it was gradually replaced by a new type of [[Roller milled white enriched flour|metal tool]]. However, it can still be seen in rural domestic installations, such as in [[India]], where 300 million women used hand mills daily to produce flour in 2002.<ref><sup>(fr)</sup> Jean-Pierre Henri Azéma, Actes du colloque de La Ferté-sous-Jouarre, {{p.|424}}</ref>[[File:Holgate Windmill millstones - 2011-12-26.jpg|thumb|A pair of millstones in [[Holgate Windmill]]]]
The earliest evidence for stones used to grind food is found in northern Australia, at the [[Madjedbebe]] rock shelter in [[Arnhem Land]], dating back around 60,000 years. Grinding stones or grindstones, as they were called, were used by the [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal peoples]] 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 stones were also adapted for grinding specific types of starchy nuts, [[ochre]]s for artwork, plant fibres for string, or plants for use in [[bush medicine]], 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",<ref name="qm">{{cite web | title=Grindstone – ancient multi-tools|first=Marisa |last=Giorgi | website=The Queensland Museum Network Blog | date=19 May 2020 | url=https://blog.qm.qld.gov.au/2020/05/19/grindstone-ancient-multi-tools/ | access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref> or [[pestle]]. The [[Aboriginal Victorians|Aboriginal peoples of the present state of Victoria]] used grinding stones to crush roots, bulbs, [[tuber]]s, and berries, as well as insects, small mammals, and reptiles before cooking them.<ref>{{cite web | title=Fact sheet: Aboriginal grinding stones | website=First Peoples – State Relations| date=6 October 2021| publisher= [[Victorian Government]]| url=http://www.firstpeoplesrelations.vic.gov.au/fact-sheet-aboriginal-grinding-stones | access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref>

=== In Ancient history ===
[[File:156_Musée_préhistoire_Penmarc'h.JPG|left|thumb|Nether millstone and knurling wheel found at the [[Pointe de la Torche|La Torche]] site ([[Plomeur]])]]
Careful examination of Paleolithic grinders ([[Pebbles (cereal)|pebbles]], [[Wheel|wheels]], 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.

[[Neanderthal]] people were already using rudimentary tools to crush various substances, as attested by the presence of rudimentary grinders at the end of the [[Mousterian]] and millstones in the [[Châtelperronian]]. From the [[Aurignacian]] period onwards (around 38,000 years ago), [[Early European modern humans|Cro-Magnon]] man regularly used millstones, elongated grinders, and circular wheels. From the [[Gravettian]] 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.
[[File:Meule_et_broyeur_-_Orgnac.JPG|thumb|Neolithic millstone and grinder]]
At the end of the [[Paleolithic|Palaeolithic]], millstones from [[Wadi Kubbaniya]] (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 (''[[Cyperus rotundus]]'', nutsedge), or to remove the fibrous texture that would make them indigestible (''[[Bolboschoenus maritimus|Scirpus maritimus]]'').<ref>Fred Wendorf ''The Prehistory of Wadi Kubbaniya Vol. 1, 2 & 3'', 1986-1989, Dallas, (with R. Schild). SMU Press (Assembler and Contributor)</ref> The [[Rhizome|rhizomes]] of [[Fern|ferns]] and the peel of the fruit of the [[Hyphaene thebaica|doum palm]], also found on this site, benefit from being ground to improve their nutritional qualities; they thus complemented the meat diet of [[Hunter-gatherer|hunter-gatherers]]. Grinding [[barley]] or [[Oat|oat seeds]] was practiced at the end of the Upper Palaeolithic ([[Franchthi Cave|Franchthi]]) or the [[Kebaran culture|Kebarian]] ([[Ohalo II]], 19,000 BC).<ref name="colloque"><sup>(fr)</sup> Meules à grains. Actes du colloque international de La Ferté-sous-Jouarre.</ref>

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 ''grinding'' and ''milling'', as attested by the appearance at this time of the first ''grinding slabs'' 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 ([[Acorn|acorns]], [[Nutmeg|nuts]], [[Hazelnut|hazelnuts]], etc.) and animal matter ([[fat]]) 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 ([[Dye|dyes]]) and certain plant or animal fibers for technical use.
[[File:CMOC_Treasures_of_Ancient_China_exhibit_-_millstone_and_roller.jpg|left|thumb|Stone-grinding slab with grinding roller [[Peiligang culture]] (5500 - 5000 B.C.), [[Xinzheng]]]]
In the [[Mesolithic]] and [[Neolithic]] eras, with the domestication of plants, much larger, fully formed grinding, pounding, and milling equipment appeared. From the [[Natufian culture|Natufian]] 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 [[Near East]], the pestle-grinder began to be developed in the [[Kebaran culture|Kebarian]] and [[Natufian culture|Natufian]] 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 [[Ethiopia]] for milling millet.

The appearance of flat, elongated millstones in the Natoufian period ([[Tell Abu Hureyra|Abu Hureïra]] on the [[Euphrates]]) 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 ([[Mureybet]], Sheikh Hassan, circa 10,000 BP) led to the "saddle-shaped" millstones still known today as the [[metate]].<ref name="colloque2"><sup>(fr)</sup> Meules à grains. Actes du colloque international de La Ferté-sous-Jouarre.</ref>

=== In the rest of the world ===
[[File:Millstone (Myllynkivi).jpg|thumb|left|Millstone factory site in Finland]]
[[Image:BuhrStone.JPG|thumb|right|Buhr stone with resurfacing instructions]]At the [[Tell Abu Hureyra]] archaeological site, as early as the 8th millennium BC, women's skeletons show traces of [[osteoarthritis]] in the knees, spinal deformity and deformation of the first [[Metatarsal bones|metatarsal]], pathologies associated with long periods of bending while grinding, supporting the theory that early humans practiced a [[Sexual division of labour|sexual division of labor]].<ref>Theya Molleson, "Seed preparation in the Mesolithic: the osteological evidence", ''Antiquity'', vol. 63, no 239, June 1989, p. 356-362 (DOI [https://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00076079 10.1017/S0003598X00076079]).</ref>

In India, millstone (''Chakki'') 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.{{cn|date=October 2021}}[[Image:Walderveense molen steenbillen.jpg|upright|thumb|Dressing a millstone]]
[[File:Millstone-monument-to-victoms-of-holodomor.jpg|thumb| Monument in the village of Victorivka (Вікторівка) in memory of the victims of the man-made famine known as [[Holodomor]]. 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.|left]]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 "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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Yeon |first=Yoo S. |date=2016 |title=Millstone: The Creation of a New Coalescence Consciousness of Opposites |url=https://www.e-jsst.org/upload/jsst-7-1-57.pdf |journal=Journal of Symbols & Sandplay Therapy |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=57–76|doi=10.12964/jsst.160003 }}</ref> 

Millstones were introduced to Britain by the Romans during the 1st century AD and were widely used there from the 3rd century AD onwards.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shaffrey|first=Ruth|date=2015|title=Intensive milling practices in the Romano-British landscape of southern England. Using newly established criteria for distinguishing millstones from rotary querns|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/britannia/article/abs/intensive-milling-practices-in-the-romanobritish-landscape-of-southern-england-using-newly-established-criteria-for-distinguishing-millstones-from-rotary-querns/10AC82351E5C7C708BE6A40CE6993E7F|journal=Britannia|volume=46|pages=55–92|doi=10.1017/S0068113X15000185|s2cid=164726574|via=cambridgecore.org|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

In 1932-1933 in Ukraine, during the man-made famine known as [[Holodomor]], 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).<ref name="millstonemonument">
{{cite news
| last         = Кобиляцька
| first        = Вікторія
| date         = 2012-12-07
| title        = Пам'ятник із жорен
| trans-title  = Monument from millstones
| url          = https://day.kyiv.ua/article/cuspilstvo/pamyatnyk-iz-zhoren
| language     = Ukrainian
| work         = День
| issue        = 224
| location     = Kiev, Ukraine
| access-date  = 2023-07-24
}}</ref> 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.<ref name="millstonemonument" /> 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 [[Holodomor]].<ref name="millstonemonument" />