The New Student's Reference Work/Quern

Quern (kwērn), a mill used in early times for grinding corn, the stone of which was turned by hand. It is a contrivance of great antiquity, and so well-adapted to the wants of a primitive people that we find it at the present day in remote districts of Ireland and in some parts of the Hebrides and Shetlands. The remains of querns have been dug up in Britain, Ireland and continental Europe wherever the traces of ancient population are found. The most usual form consists of two circular, flat stones, the upper one pierced in the center with a narrow funnel and revolving on a wooden or metal pin inserted in the lower. The upper stone is occasionally ornamented with various devices; in the Roman period it sometimes was funnel-shaped, with grooves radiating from the center. In using the quern the grain was dropped with one hand into the central opening, while with the other the upper stone was revolved by means of a stick inserted in a small opening near the edge.