It is now widely assumed that many artefacts found in the prehistoric archaeological record were not casually discarded as unwanted material but were deposited in features and contexts with structure and meaning. This appears to include saddle and rotary querns for they are often found whole and apparently still usable or, conversely, deliberately broken. Analysis of the structured deposition of querns in the south-west of England shows that they were deposited in features on both domestic and non-domestic sites. Furthermore, the location and state of the querns, together with the artefacts found in association with them, indicates that they were deposited with different levels and layers of meaning, even within the same type of feature. The deposition of querns appears to have pervaded all aspects of prehistoric life and death suggesting that they played a role above, but nevertheless related to, their prime task of milling. An exploration of the object biography of querns demonstrates the importance of what are often considered to be mundane tools to subsistence communities. Each quern has its own unique life history, its meaning and value determined by the reasons that gave cause for its manufacture, the material from which it was made, the use(s) to which it was put and who used it. However, all querns share points of commonality, related to their function as milling tools, their role as transformers of raw material(s) into usable products (s), their association with women and the production of food, and the movement of the upper stone. Through these, symbolical links can be made between querns and agricultural, human and building life cycles, gender relations and the turning of the heavens. The reason for a quern’s deposition in the archaeological record may have drawn upon one or more unique or common values.

Interpretation of changes of humeral asymmetry during the Holocene period was based on the analysis of upper limb muscle activity during cereal grinding using the saddle quern and rotary quern. The aim of the diploma thesis was to test if the dominant upper limb muscle activity during cereal grinding using the saddle quern and rotary quern might be estimated by measuring the activity of musculus deltoideus (pars clavicularis), musculus infraspinatus, musculus pectoralis major and musculus triceps brachii (caput longum). Using surface electromyography, we have analyzed activity of musculus biceps brachii, musculus deltoideus (pars clavicularis), musculus deltoideus (pars acromialis), musculus deltoideus (pars spinalis), musculus pectoralis major, musculus infraspinatus, musculus triceps brachii (caput laterale) and musculus triceps brachii (caput longum) during cereal grinding using the saddle quern and rotary quern in 25 subjects. Consistent with our prediction, musculus biceps brachii was the least active muscle during saddle quern grinding and clockwise rotary grinding, therefore it is possible to exclude musculus biceps brachii from the sample of analyzed muscles. Pars clavicularis, pars acromialis and pars spinalis of musculus deltoideus were more active during rotary quern grinding than...

Les moulins avec leurs meules en pierre ont été utilisés depuis les débuts de l'agriculture pour moudre de céréales. Au fil du temps, ils ont évolué passant des moulins va-et-vient, aux moulins rotatifs manuels, puis à des moulins à mécanismes complexes entrainés par l'homme, l'animal, l'eau ou le vent. Notre étude porte sur la question de la production de ces meules dans le sud de l'Espagne depuis le troisième millénaire av. J.-C. jusqu'au XXe siècle. Seuls quelques sites étaient signalés au début de notre recherche. Maintenant, plus de 130 meulières sont connues suite à des travaux de terrain, l'étude des textes anciens, des recherches sur l'internet et des études museographiques. Les sources conventionnelles pour identifier les sites sont des archives et des textes historiques, ainsi que des dictionnaires géographiques, notamment du XIXe siècle. La plupart des sites identifiés par ces sources datent de périodes récentes. Des sites plus anciens, datés de l'époque romaine et du moyen âge, ont été identifiés par des études des meules dans les dépôts des musées (ébauches en particulier) combinées avec des recherches sur le terrain. L'internet peut être aussi une source intéressante. De nombreux sites sont signalés le long des sentiers de randonnée ou dans des pages historiques locales. Une partie de ce travail a été consacré à établir une première classification des différents types de meules. En raison de l'absence de corpus publiés, ce travail n'est pas équivalent pour toutes les périodes, en particulier pour le Moyen Age. Toutes les roches n'étaient pas aptes à la fabrication des meules et certaines étaient plus recherchées que d'autres. Ainsi à l'âge du fer c'était le calcaire tuffeau. Alors qu'à l'époque romaine c'était le biocalcarenite de la bordure de la Baie de Cadix, et les roches volcaniques qui ont été importées, parfois sur de longues distances depuis les deux districts volcaniques (Calatrava et Province volcanique du SE). Dans les périodes plus récentes c'est le calcaires blanc qui a été favorisés, peut-être parce qu'il permettait d'obtenir une farine plus blanche. Après avoir décrit des techniques de fabrication, une classification des meulières (MQ) est proposée selon s'il s'agissait d'exploitation de blocs de surface (MQ-1) ou du substrat rocheux (MQ-2). Les meules va-et-vient étaient surtout produites à partir de blocs de surface (MQ-1a), tandis que des modèles de l'âge du fer et romains provenaient de carrières de blocs (MQ- 2b). L'extraction directe (MQ-2a) où des cylindres ont été tirés de la roche laissant des fronts alvéolaires datent d'époque romaine. Des gros blocs de surface (calcaires karstiques, rochers de granit) ont servi également comme meulières (MQ-1b). Les carrières sont décrites sur la base de leur morphologie : en pallier, en poche, en fosse, de bordure, en tranchée, extensive contigües, extensives dispersées et souterraines. Des thèmes liés à l'infrastructure des meulières sont traités, tels que la maintenance des outils, la gestion des déchets, et le transport des meules (courte et à longue distance). Les meuliers sont également étudiés du point de vue de leur degré de spécialité, leur organisation en équipes, leurs gains et leurs risques professionnels (silicose). Quant à la question de la propriété et de leur contrôle, il est démontré que ces sites au moins depuis le Moyen Age étaient sous l'autorité de la classe dirigeante. A l'origine, la production était surtout locale et régionale. Les meules ont commencé à être diffusées à de longues distances à l'époque romaine. Au Moyen Age, avec l'abandon de roches volcaniques, il y a eu un retour aux roches locales et régionales. L'introduction des pierres silicieuse françaises au XIXe siècle fut le début de la fin des meulières en Espagne. Le coup de grâce, cependant, est arrivé avec l'introduction du rouleau en acier industriel, qui non seulement a engendré la fin des meulières, mais aussi de la longue tradition de mouture à la pierre. / Mills with stones were used since the beginnings of agriculture for grinding grains. Over time, they evolved from saddle querns, to rotary querns and mills, to the more sophisticated geared watermills, and windmills. Our study focuses on where and how the hard, abrasive millstones that equipped the different mills were produced in the south of Spain, from the third millennium BC to the 20th century. At the outset of our research, only a few millstone quarries were known. Now, more than 130 have been identified. Different sources were used to identify these sites. Conventional sources included old historical archives and texts, notably 19th-century geographical dictionaries. Most sites recorded in written sources, however, date to recent times. Older quarries, from the Roman period and Middle Ages, however, were identified by millstone analyses in museum depositories (roughouts in particular) combined with fieldwork. An additional source was the internet. Ignored by conventional sources, many sites are recorded along hiking trails or in local historical websites. A large section of this research is dedicated to establishing a first chrono-typological classification of the different types of millstones produced in these quarries. Due to the lack of published millstone assemblages, this work is not balanced, especially regarding the Middle Ages. Not all rocks were apt for grinding and there is evidence that specific rocks were favoured over others. In the Iron Age limestone tufa was preferred. In Roman times, biocalcarenites were the main rock along the Bay of Cádiz, whereas volcanics rocks, dominating the eastern half of our study area, travelled, at times, long distances from the two volcanic districts (Calatrava and SE Spanish volcanics). In more recent periods white limestones were favoured, possibly because they yielded a whiter flour. After describing extraction and fashioning techniques and tools, a classification of these quarries (MQ) is proposed based on whether the exploitation was of surface boulders (MQ-1) or bedrock (MQ-2). Saddle querns were mostly from surface workings (MQ-1a), whereas Iron Age and Roman models were fashioned from detached angular blocks (MQ-2b). True extractive quarries (MQ-2a) where cylinders were cut directly from bedrock yielding circular hollows, date to Roman times. There are also evidence of large surface blocks (karstic limestones, granite boulders) as extractive quarries (MQ-1b). Based on their morphology, the sites are labelled as follows: bench, pocket, pit, edge, trench, extensive contiguous, extensive dispersed and subterranean. In this study we have also examined subjects linked to millstone quarry infrastructure, such as tool maintenance, debris management, and millstone transport (both short and long distance). We have also examined the personel working at these sites from the point of view of their degree of specialty, organisation of crews, earnings and occupational hazards (notably silicosis). As to the subject of quarry ownership and control, there is evidence of vested interest of local authorities at least from the Middle Ages. Millstone production through time was for the most part local and regional. Only in Roman times did millstones travel systematically long distances. In the Middle Ages, with the abandonment of volcanic rocks, there was a return to the local and regional rocks. The introduction of the French silicieuse stones in the 19th century was the beginning of the end of millstone production in Spain. The coup de grâce, however, arrived with the introduction of the industrial steel roller, that not only terminated quarry work but ended the long tradition of milling with stones.