Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones.
The basic anatomy of a millstone. This is a runner stone; a bedstone would not have the "Spanish Cross" into which the supporting millrind fits.
A pair of millstones in Holgate Windmill
Nether millstone and knurling wheel found at the La Torche site (Plomeur)
Neolithic millstone and grinder
A gristmill grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding.
Allied Mills flour mill on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in North West England
Senenu Grinding Grain, c. 1352–1336 BC. The royal scribe Senenu appears here bent over a large grinding stone. This unusual sculpture seems to be an elaborate version of a shabti, a funerary figurine placed in the tomb to work in place of the deceased. Brooklyn Museum.
The basic anatomy of a millstone; this diagram depicts a runner stone.
Grinding mechanism in an old Sweden-based flour mill
