Document Type
Book
Abstract
This book is the most comprehensive empirical study to date of the social and technical aspects of milling during the ancient and medieval periods.Drawing on the latest archaeological evidence and historical studies, the book examines the chronological development and technical details of handmills, beast mills, watermills and windmills from the first millennium BCE to c. 1500. It discusses the many and varied uses to which mills were turned in the civilisations of Rome, China, Islam and Europe, and the many types of mill that existed.The book also includes comparative regional studies of the social and economic signifance of milling, and tackles several important historiographical issues, such as whether technological stagnation was a characteristic of late Antiquity, whether there was an "industrial revolution" in the European Middle Ages based on waterpower, and how contemporary studies in the social shaping of technology can shed light on the study of pre-modern technology.
ANZSRC / FoR Code
2202 HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SPECIFIC FIELDS
Publication Details
Lucas, A. R. 2006, Wind, Water, Work: Ancient and Medieval Milling Technology: Volume 8 Technology and Change in History, Brill, Leiden Boston.
Digital file of full text not available. To access a copy of this book, please contact Michael Organ, Manager Repository Services: morgan@uow.edu.au.
Google Books open access version (sections only of 400) available here.