Editing Millstone (section)

=== Millstones of southern Morocco ===
[[File:Moulin_trapetum-tag.svg|thumb|Roman olive mill or ''Trapetum'']]
[[File:Maroc_Essaouira_argane_oil_Luc_Viatour_3.JPG|left|thumb|Hand mill used to make [[argan oil]] by hand]]
A melting pot of African, Eastern and Mediterranean civilizations, [[Morocco]] has preserved tools and techniques from different eras.

The Volubilis site, located in [[Mauretania Tingitana|Mauritania Tingitana]] (northeastern Morocco), features grain and olive mills from the Roman period (1st century-2nd century). These mills consist of a truncated cone-shaped standing millstone and a convex grinding ring to which the wooden machinery is connected, apparently operated without the aid of animal power. In this arrangement, the grinding ring is fitted onto the lying millstone. The ''Volubilitan olive millstone'' differs from the grain millstone by having oblique striations on the truncated surface of the lying millstone and on the inside of the grinding ring. [[Columella]] asserts that,<ref>XII, 52, 6-7</ref> to extract the oil, the millstones (''molae'') are more useful than the crusher (''trapetum''), as they can be lowered or raised according to the size of the fruit, so as to avoid crushing the stone.<ref name="Brun1"><sup>(fr)</sup> Jean-Pierre Brun. ''Archéologie du vin et de l'huile. De la préhistoire à l'époque hellénistique''</ref>

A second type of olive mill can be found on the same site, and consists of a monolithic vat on which a fluted drum turns around a vertical mast like the section of a column. This type of mill is more common and can be found on many sites, even in recent times.<gallery mode="packed-overlay" heights="200" widths="250">
File:Volubilis1.11.JPG|Giant olive wheel - [[Volubilis]]
File:Volubilis1.20.JPG|Grinder ring - [[Volubilis]]
File:Presse_olive_Volubilis.jpg|Olive mill with grinding ring - [[Volubilis]]
File:Volubilis1.1.JPG|Trituration mill with upright millstone - [[Volubilis]]
</gallery>The [[Sideroxylon spinosum|argan tree]] is a woodland species endemic to southwest Morocco. The technical environment of the ''argan mill'' covers its range. It's a stone hand mill used to grind roasted kernels and [[Almond|almonds]].

It stands out from the grain mill thanks to the truncated cone shape and greater height of its runner millstone (''agurf wuflla''), as well as the presence of a spout (''abajjr'' or ''tilst'') and a pouring spout (''ils'') on the nether millstone (''agurf u wadday''). At the center of the nether millstone is a short pivot (''tamnrut'') made of argan wood, around which the upper millstone rotates, pierced by an eyelet (''tit n tzrgt'') into which one or two handfuls of kernels are inserted. The circular movement is interrupted to remove the kernels after the millstone has been lifted. The whole unit can be raised on stones welded together in a "[[Bakehouse (building)|bakehouse]]"-style architecture, allowing embers or argan shells to warm the unit, thus facilitating grinding in winter.<ref name="colloque5" />