Editing Millstone (section)

=== The Olynthus mill ===
[[File:Moulin_Olynthe.svg|thumb|Olynthus mill: 1. Pivot 2. Lever 3. Running wheel with hopper 4. Grinding wheel 5. Table]]
The town of [[Olynthus]] was destroyed in 348 BC by [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II of Macedonia]], and the name "''Olynthus millstone, Olynthus grinder, Olynthus mill''" has come to be attached to this type of mill, which represents a genuine [[Technological revolution|technical revolution]]. In 1917, the Greek [[Konstantinos Kourouniotis]] elucidated the workings of the [[Hopper (particulate collection container)|hopper]] millstone, which played an important role in [[ancient Greece]].<ref name="ista2"><sup>(fr)</sup> Marie-Claire Amouretti. ''Le pain et l'huile dans la Grèce antique''.</ref>

In the Olynthus mill, the nether millstone(4) is rectangular, resting on a table (5); it measures between 0.42 m and 0.65 m in length, 0.36 m to 0.54 m in width and 0.08 to 0.25 m in thickness. The grinder, which forms the upper millstone (common millstone (3)), is usually rectangular, sometimes oval, with a central hopper parallel to the long sides, designed to receive the grain to be ground. The mill is capped by a horizontal axle attached to a [[Kinematic pair|pivot]] (1) on one side of the table, the other end being operated by a worker who moves the lever (2) back and forth horizontally. The Olynthus mill thus shows the beginnings of mechanization, with millers now standing on their feet, making work easier.

This type of mill certainly appeared as early as the beginning of the 5th century BC. Its use was widespread throughout the Greek civilization in the 4th century B.C., from [[Macedonia (Greece)|Macedonia]] to the [[Peloponnese]], and was adopted as far afield as the islands of [[Anatolia]], [[Egypt]], and modern-day [[Syria]]. It continued into the 1st century B.C., and sometimes even later, as the excavations at the [[Agora]] in [[Athens]] suggest. The importance of this mill type for the Greek world was confirmed by the discovery, in 1967, of 22 hopper mills in the cargo of a ship wrecked off [[Kyrenia ship|Kyrenia]], dated to the end of the 4th century BC. Increasing demand undoubtedly led to standardization in manufacturing and specialization of production centers. For example, flat [[Argolis|Argolidian]] millstones, made of [[andesite]] and [[rhyolite]], were produced from local quarries ([[Isthmus of Corinth]], [[Saronic Gulf]]), while grinders came from more distant quarries (islands of [[Nisyros|Nysiros]], [[Milos]]).<ref name="ista2" />

The use of this type of mill was not limited to grinding cereals, as the finds from [[Thasos]] or [[Lavrio]] suggest: it was also used to grind ore, so as to calibrate it for subsequent selection by washing. It may even have appeared in the mines of [[Pangaion Hills]]. The text by [[Agatharchides]] on the gold mines of Egypt in the 1st century B.C., transmitted by [[Photios I of Constantinople|Photios]] and [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]], mentions a mill with a lever:

"Women and older men then receive this ore crushed to the size of peas, throw it into the millstones, in numerous lines, two or three people standing at each lever and grind it." Photius' version specifies "''on either side''" of the lever.<ref name="ista2" />