List of ancient watermills

For an overview of early medieval European watermills from 500 to 1000 AD, see List of early medieval watermills.

This list of ancient watermills presents an overview of water-powered grain-mills and industrial mills in classical antiquity, including the Hellenistic period through the Roman period up until circa 500 AD.

The Barbegal mill, located on a steep slope in southern France, is considered the biggest ancient mill complex. Its capacity was sufficient to feed the whole nearby city of Arles.^[1]

Scheme of a water-driven sawmill at Hierapolis, Roman Asia. The 3rd century mill is the earliest known machine to incorporate a crank and connecting rod mechanism.^[2]

The water wheel and watermill are the earliest instances of machines harnessing natural forces to replace human muscular labour (apart from the sail).^[3] As such, it holds a special place in the history of technology and also in economic studies where it is associated with growth.^[4]

The invention of the watermill is a question open to scholarly discussion,^[5] but is generally agreed to have occurred in the ancient Near East,^[5][6] either before^[6] or during the Hellenistic period.^[7] In the subsequent Roman period, the use of water-power was diversified and different types of watermills were introduced. These include all three variants of the vertical water wheel as well as the horizontal water wheel.^[8] Apart from its main use in grinding flour, water-power was also applied to pounding grain,^[9] crushing ore,^[10] sawing stones^[11] and possibly fulling and bellows for iron furnaces.^[12]

An increased research interest has greatly improved our knowledge of Roman watermill sites in recent years. Numerous archaeological finds in the western half of the empire now complement the surviving documentary material from the eastern provinces; they demonstrate that the breakthrough of watermill technology occurred as early as the 1st century AD and was not delayed until the onset of the Middle Ages as previously thought.^[13] The data shows a wide spread of grain-mills over most parts of the empire, with industrial mills also being in evidence in both halves.^[14] Although the prevalence of grain-mills naturally meant that watermilling remained primarily a rural phenomenon, it began gaining importance in urban environments during late antiquity.^[15]

The data below spans the period until circa 500 AD. The vast majority are dated to Roman times.

Earliest evidence

Below the earliest ancient evidence for different types of watermills and the use of water-power for various industrial processes. This list is continued for the early Middle Ages here.

Date	Water-powered mill types	Reference (or find spot)	Modern country
Possibly before c. 350 BC	Possible horizontal-wheeled corn mill[6]	Persian Empire (hypothesized place of invention)[6]	Iran, Iraq, Turkey
Possibly first half of 3rd century BC	Horizontal-wheeled mill [7]	Byzantium (hypothesized place of invention)[5]	Turkey
Possibly c. 240 BC	Vertical-wheeled mill [7]	Alexandria (hypothesized place of invention)[5]	Egypt
Before 71 BC?	Grain-mill ("watermill") [16]	Strabon, XII, 3, 30 C 556	Turkey
40/10 BC	Undershot wheel mill [17]	Vitruvius, X, 5.2	Unspecified
40/10 BC	Possible kneading machine [18]	Vitruvius, X, 5.2	Unspecified
20 BC/10 AD	Overshot wheel mill [19]	Antipater of Thessalonica, IX, 418.4–6	Unspecified
c. 20 AD	Trip hammer[20]	Huan Tan, Xin Lun	China
73/4 AD	Possible fulling mill[21]	Antioch	Syria
2nd century AD	Multiple mill complex [22]	Barbegal mill	France
Late 2nd century AD	Breastshot wheel mill [23]	Les Martres-de-Veyre	France
Second half of 3rd century AD	Sawmill; crank and connecting rod system with gear train [24]	Hierapolis sarcophagus	Turkey
Late 3rd or early 4th century AD	Turbine mill [25]	Chemtou and Testour	Tunisia
Late 3rd or early 4th century AD	Possible tanning mill [26]	Saepinum	Italy
?	Possible furnace[10]	Marseille	France

• 
  Undershot water wheel
• 
  Breastshot water wheel
• 
  Overshot water wheel

Written sources

In the following, literary, epigraphical and documentary sources referring to watermills and other water-driven machines are listed.

Reference	Location	Date	Type of evidence	Comments on
Ammianus Marcellinus, 18.8.11 [27]	Amida	359 AD	History	Multiple mill complex
Antipater of Thessalonica, IX, 418.4–6 [23]	Unspecified	20 BC/10 AD	Poem	Earliest reference to overshot wheel mill [23]
Ausonius, Mosella, 362–364 [28]	Ruwer river	c. 370 AD	Poem	Water-powered marble saws and grain-mills
Beroea[29]	Macedonia	2nd century AD	Decree	Tax revenue from watermills
Cedrenus, Historiarum compendium, p. 295 [516] [30]	India	c. 325 AD	History
CG-CI, pp. 86–90, no. 41 [31]	Corinth	6th century AD
CIL, III, 5866 [32]	Günzburg	1st/3rd century AD	Epigraphy	Miller’s guild [33]
CIL, III, 14969, 2 [34]	Promona	1st/4th century AD	Epigraphy
CIL, VI, 1711 [35]		c. 480 AD	Epigraphy
Codex Justinianus, XI, 43, 10, 3 [31]	Constantinople	474/491 AD	Legal code
Codex Theodosianus, XIV, 15.4 [35]		398 AD	Legal code
Diocletian, XV, 54 [33]		301 AD	Price edict
Euchromius, VII, pp. 138–9, no. 169 [36]	Sardis	4th to 5th/6th century AD	Epigraphy	Watermill engineer
Gregory of Nyssa, In Ecclesiasten, III, 656A Migne [37]		c. 370/390 AD	Theology	Water-powered marble saws? [38]
Huan Tan, Xin Lun [20]	China	c. 20 AD	Treatise	Trip hammer
John Cassian, Conlationes Patrum, I, 18 [39]		426 AD?	Theology
Letter [40]	Egypt	5th century AD		Possible watermill
Libanius, Or. 4.29 [29]	Antioch	380s AD	Rhetoric	Tax on watermills
MAMA, VII, p. 70, no. 305, lines 29–32 [37]	Orcistus	c. 329 AD [41]	Epigraphy	Town privilege
Mar. Aur. Apollodotos Kalliklianos [42]	Hierapolis	Second half of 3rd century AD	Epigraphy	Member of guild of water-millers
Molitor [33]	Châteauneuf	1st century AD	Epigraphy
Palladius, Opus agriculturae, I, 41, (42) [43]		4th/5th century AD	Treatise	Use of waste water to drive watermills
Pliny, Naturalis Historia, XVIII, 23.97 [44]	Italy	c. 70 AD	Encyclopedia	Water-powered pestles [45]
Sabinianus I, 18		c. 450 AD	Hagiography
Strabon, XII, 3, 30 C 556 [31]	Cabira	Before 71 BC? [46]	Geography
Talmud, Shabbat, I, 5 [47]		Before 70 AD?
Two inscriptions [21]	Antioch	73/4 AD	Epigraphy	Possibly fulling mills
Visigothic Code, VII, 2, 12 and VIII, 4, 29–30 [44]		Late 5th century AD	Legal code
Vita S. Romani abbatis, 17–18 [48]		c. 450 AD	Hagiography	Water-powered pestles [45]
Vitruvius, X, 5.2 [49]		40/10 BC	Engineering	Earliest description of undershot wheel mill [49]
Vitruvius, X, 5.2 [18]		40/10 BC	Engineering	Possible kneading machine

Graphical representations

This section deals with depictions of watermills which are preserved in ancient paintings, reliefs, mosaics, etc.

Place (or object)	Country	Date	Type of evidence	Identification/Remains
Coemeterium Maius at Rome[50]	Italy	Late 3rd century AD?	Wall painting
Utica[51]	Tunisia	4th century AD	Mosaic [A 1]
Great Palace of Constantinople[52]	Turkey	c. 450/500 AD	Mosaic	One probable and one possible representation
Hierapolis sarcophagus[11]	Turkey	Second half of 3rd century AD	Relief	Water-powered stone sawmill; earliest known crank and connecting rod system [2]

Archaeological finds

Watermill sites

Below are listed excavated or surveyed watermill sites dated to the ancient period.

Site	Country	Date	Identification/Remains
Mouzaïa des Mines, near [53]	Algeria	Unspecified	Unspecified remains
Oued Bou Ardoun [53]	Algeria	Possibly 2nd to 3rd century AD	Unspecified remains
Oued Bou Ya'koub [53]	Algeria	Unspecified	Drop-tower mill
Oued Mellah [53]	Algeria	Possibly 4th century AD	Drop-tower mill
Ardleigh, Spring Valley Mill [54]	England	Unspecified	Possible Roman watermill site including millstones
Chesters[55]	England	Possibly 3rd century AD	Mill-race, mill-chamber, tail-race, millstones
Fullerton[56]	England	Unspecified	Two watermills
Haltwhistle Burn Head[57]	England	225–70 AD	Entire establishment
Ickham I [58]	England	150–280 AD	Mill-race, mill-building, fragments of millstones
Ickham II [59]	England	3rd and 4th centuries AD	Mill-race, sluice-gate, mill-building, fragments of millstones
Nettleton[60]	England	230 AD	Mill-race, sluice-gate, wheel-pit, tail-race
Wherwell[61]	England	Late 3rd or early 4th century AD	Mill-channel, mill-building (?), fragments of millstones
Willowford [62]	England	Late 2nd or 3rd century AD? [63]	Water-channels, sluices (?), fragments of millstones
Barbegal mill[64]	France	2nd century AD [65]	Multiple mill complex with sixteen overshot wheels on two mill-races, fed by aqueduct
Fontvieille, Calade du Castellet [66]	France	5th/6th century AD	Horizontal-wheeled mill
Gannes [67]	France	Presumably 4th or 5th century AD	Horizontal (?) water-wheel
La Bourse[68]	France	Late 5th century AD	Remains of waterwheel and curved trough.
La Crau[69]	France	2nd century AD	Vertical-wheeled mill
La Garde (Var)[70]	France	Unspecified	Vertical-wheeled mill
Lattes[70]	France	Unspecified	Unspecified
Le Cannet-des-Maures[71]	France	5th century AD	Two horizontal-wheeled mills
Les Arcs (Var)[72]	France	2nd/3rd century AD	Vertical-wheeled mill
Les Martres-de-Veyre I [73]	France	1st century AD	Unspecified remains
Les Martres-de-Veyre II [73]	France	Late 2nd century AD [23]	Entire establishment; breastshot wheel [23]
Lyon-Vaise[74]	France	Late 1st century AD abandoned	Millstones, mill-chamber timbers
Paulhan I–III [75]	France	40/50–early 3rd century AD	Three consecutive mills
Pézenas[76]	France	2nd century AD	Horizontal-wheeled mill
Saint-Doulchard[77]	France	1st century AD	Wooden paddles.
Taradeau[70]	France	Late 2nd–4th century AD	Horizontal-wheeled mill
Bobingen[78]	Germany	117/138 AD	Posts, boards, mill-race
Dasing[79]	Germany	Merovingian	Timber posts and mill race, remains of wheel and paddles, millstones.
Inden[80]	Germany	End of 1st century BC	Millstones, wheel-shaft bearings, paddle fragments
Lösnich I [81]	Germany	2nd/4th century AD? [23]	Mill-race, wheel-pit, fragment of a millstone
Lösnich II [81]	Germany	2nd/4th century AD? [23]	Mill-race
Munich-Perlach [82]	Germany	End of 2nd century AD	Mill-chamber, mill-race, millstone fragments; possibly duplex drive
Athens, Agora I [83]	Greece	5th and 6th centuries AD	Aqueduct, wheel-pit, mill-chamber, tail-race
Athens, Agora II [83]	Greece	460/75 to c.580 AD	Entire establishment
Athens, Agora III [67]	Greece	Unspecified	Unspecified remains
Shushtar Historical Hydraulic System[84]	Iran	3rd century AD	About 40 watermills
El-Qabu [67]	Israel	Possibly Roman	Unspecified remains
En Shoqeq [67]	Israel	2nd century AD	Masonry dam with mills
Farod I–III [67]	Israel	5th or 6th century AD	Three drop-tower mills
Farod IV–V [67]	Israel	Unspecified	Two mills
Ma'agan Michael[67]	Israel	3rd century AD?	Masonry dam, with eleven mills
Nahal Tanninim[85]	Israel	Early 4th/mid-7th century AD	Six vertical-wheeled mills with duplex drives and underdriven Pompeian millstones
Wadi Fejjas I–III [67]	Israel	Probably Roman	Three drop-tower mills
Wadi Serrar [67]	Israel	Probably Roman	Unspecified remains
Yarkon[67]	Israel	2nd century AD	Unspecified remains
Oderzo[86]	Italy	2nd century AD	Mill-race
Rome, Baths of Caracalla I [87]	Italy	Between 212/235 to mid-3rd century AD	Two vertical-wheeled mills
Rome, Baths of Caracalla II [88]	Italy	Mid-3rd century to 5th century AD	Two vertical-wheeled mills
Rome, Janiculum[89]	Italy	Early 3rd century AD [90]	Aqueducts, reservoirs, sluices, millstones
Saepinum[26]	Italy	Late 3rd or early 4th century AD [26]	Aqueduct, sluice-gates, wheel-pit, tail-race.[67] Recently identified as tanning mill.[26]
San Giovanni di Ruoti [91]	Italy	Early 1st century AD	Unspecified remains
Venafro[92]	Italy	Possibly early Empire	Undershot water wheel,[93] millstones
Gerasa[94]	Jordan	6th century AD	Water-powered stone sawmill with two four-bladed saws; crank and connecting rod system without gear train
Jarash[95]	Jordan	527-65 AD	Wheel-pit walls, bearing emplacements, supply cistern, partly sawn stone drums.
Wadi al-Hasa[67]	Jordan	Probably late Roman	At least nineteen possible drop-tower mills
Oued es Soueïr [53]	Morocco	Unspecified	Unspecified remains
Avenches [96]	Switzerland	57/58–80 AD	Mill-race timbers
Rodersdorf, Klein Büel [97]	Switzerland	1st century AD	Millstone, mill-race
Palmyra[67]	Syria	Possibly Roman	Unspecified remains
Chemtou[53]	Tunisia	Late 3rd or early 4th century AD	Triple helix turbine mill with horizontal wheels
Testour[53]	Tunisia	Late 3rd or early 4th century AD	Triple helix turbine mill with horizontal wheels
Colossae [98]	Turkey	Unspecified	Possible multiple-mill complex [99]
Kurşunlu Waterfall, near Perge[100]	Turkey	Unspecified	Unspecified remains
Lamus river[29]	Turkey	Apparently late antique	Seven horizontal-wheeled mills

Millstones

The following list comprises stray finds of ancient millstones. Note that there is no way to distinguish millstones driven by water-power from those powered by animals turning a capstan. Most, however, are assumed to derive from watermills.^[101]

Site	Country	Date (or find context)	Remains
Barton Court Farm [102]	England	4th century AD well	Fragments of four millstones
Chedworth[102]	England	Roman villa	One lower stone, fragment of another
Chew Park [102]	England	Late 3rd or early 4th century AD	One complete upper stone, part of another
Dicket Mead[102]	England	Roman building	Fragments of millstones
Leeds[102]	England	Roman pottery dated to 1st and 2nd centuries AD	Fragment of millstone
Littlecote Roman Villa[102]	England	2nd century AD timber building	Fragment of millstone
London[102]	England	1st-2nd century AD	Several millstones
London[102]	England	Late 2nd century AD Roman ship	One unfinished millstone
Selsey[102]	England	Unspecified	Fragment of millstone
Vindolanda[103]	England	Possibly Roman	Four millstones
Wantage[103]	England	On display in museum	Two millstones
Woolaston[102]	England	c. 320 AD	Two upper millstones
La Chapelle-Taillefert[102]	France	Pottery and coins from 2nd century AD	Pair of millstones
Lyon[102]	France	On display in museum	Many unpublished millstones
Paris[103]	France	On display in museum	Six millstones
Aalen[102]	Germany	On display in museum	Five millstones
Cologne[103]	Germany	On display in museum	Three millstones
Dasing[104]	Germany	Unspecified	Fragments of millstones
Koblenz[102]	Germany	On display in museum	Several millstones
Mayen[102]	Germany	Quarry	Unfinished Roman millstones
Budapest[103]	Hungary	On display in museum	Six millstones
Iran[6]	Iran	c. 350 BC	Fragments of millstones
Beit She'an[102]	Israel	Late 4th or early 5th century AD	Upper millstone
Buqueiah [102]	Israel	Allegedly from ancient watermill	Upper millstone
Bologna[102]	Italy	On display in museum	Six millstones
Naples[102]	Italy	Probably Roman	Several millstones
Palatine, Rome[105]	Italy	4th or 5th century AD	47 millstones from at least five watermills
Apulum[102]	Romania	2nd or 3rd century AD	Pair of millstones
Cluj-Napoca[102]	Romania	2nd or 3rd century AD	Upper millstone
Micia[102]	Romania	2nd or 3rd century AD	Pair of millstones
Upper Tigris[6]	Turkey	c. 350 BC	Fragments of millstones
Caerwent[102]	Wales	Smithy	Millstones
Whitton [102]	Wales	Unspecified	Fragment of millstone

Water wheels and other components

Although more rare than the massive millstones, finds of wooden and iron parts of the mill machinery can also point to the existence of ancient watermills.^[106] Large stone mortars have been found at many mines; their deformations suggest automated crushing mills worked by water wheels.^[107]

Site	Country	Date (or find context)	Remains
Great Chesterford[102]	England	Early 5th century AD hoard	Iron spindle with three winged rynds
Silchester[102]	England	Mid-4th century AD hoard	Iron spindle
Saint-Doulchard[108]	France	1/10 to c.50 AD	Paddles, mill-chamber posts
Conimbriga[103]	Portugal	On display in museum, allegedly 1st century AD	Mill-wheel
Hagendorn[109]	Switzerland	Late 2nd century AD	Three undershot wheels
Dolaucothi[10]	Wales	1st and 2nd centuries AD	Stone anvil (Carreg Pumsaint) nearby