Rights Holder: Museum of London
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Unique ID: LON-3156E8
Object type certainty: Certain
Workflow
status: Published
Fragment of lava rotary quern, possibly Roman in date. This type of circular lava quern was imported into Britain from the Roman period to the 13th century and so it is difficult to provide a more specific date for the object. The fragment is trangular in plan, the upper surface has a series of parallel lines carved into it to provide the grinding surface, each of the ridges is approximately 4-5mm wide and separated by a groove of 3-4mm. This fragment preserves the curving edge of the quern. In section the underside of the quern tapers towards the middle, though the underside is rough and it is difficult to tell if this taper is deliberate or formed by damage.
The stone itself is a volcanic rock from the Mayen-Niedermendig area of the Eifel Hills region of Germany. This stone was popular for use in querns as evidenced by the longevity of the import trade. Though, use of querns was largely banned during the medieval period their illegal use continued as did some use under license.
Length: 90.73mm
Width: 75.93mm
Thickness: 32.16mm
Weight: 228g
Ref: Watts, S. 2006. Rotary Querns c.700-1700. The Finds Research Group Datasheet 38.
Class: Rotary
Subsequent action after recording: Returned to finder
Broad period: ROMAN
Subperiod from: Early
Period from: ROMAN
Subperiod to: Middle
Period to: MEDIEVAL
Date from: Circa AD 50
Date to: Circa AD 1300
Quantity: 1
Length: 90.73 mm
Width: 75.93 mm
Thickness: 32.16 mm
Weight: 228 g
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4 Figure: TQ3280
Four figure Latitude: 51.5035277
Four figure longitude: -0.09955492
1:25K map: TQ3280
1:10K map: TQ38SW
Grid reference source: Generated from computer mapping software
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 10 metre square.
No references cited so far.