MULLER

Fine-grained granite elvan muller or rubbing stone. The muller is oval in plan, with two rounded ends, and plano-convex in profile, with a convex upper face and a flat base. The flat, smooth base was used for rubbing, and the upper face convex so that it could be held and pushed across a base for grinding. The muller would have been used with a larger saddle quern to grind grain between the stones to make flour. The granite is fine grained and contains muscovite or mica, tourmaline and felspars. The soft felspars would work into hollows and the hard tourmaline would stand proud of the surface, thus allowing a shearing action to cut and grind the grain. The shape of the muller suggests that it was made from a beach cobble from the Land's End Granite outcrop. There are also orange linear marks all over the surface of the muller where it has been hit by an iron plough or other agricultural machinery since it has been deposited in the field.

Jones & Taylor (2010) illustrate a porphyritic elvan muller with small quartz and feldspar megacrysts, which has been derived from a beach cobble, excavated from Scarcewater, St Stephen, on page 127, fig.64, no.253, which is dated from the Middle Bronze Age, c.1500-1100 BC.

Jones (2002) illustrates a similar example excavated from Callestick on page 29, fig.12, no.101 which dates from the Later Bronze Age, c.1100-700BC.

Nowakowski (1991) illustrates a similar elvan example excavated from Trethellan on page 142, fig.57, no.88, which dates from the Middle Bronze Age, c.1500-1200 BC.