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A 110-cm-millstone abandoned in Mount Burgamendi (Barrundia). Javi Castro. Aranzadi Science Society.

Stones were vital to mills for grinding grain into flour. Mills themselves are as old as farming. Hand-operated at an early stage, they evolved into more and more sophisticated devices, and their performance improved significantly. Former flour mills were equipped with millstones (errotarriak, in Basque) powered by water (watermill), draught animals (animal-powered mill) or, on fewer occasions, the wind (windmill). Wind farms are found today in some of our mountains, the natural landscape of mountain watersheds having been altered by modern windmills that instead of white flour produce ‘green’ electrical power. (more…)