Barbegal Mills

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Coordinates: 43 ° 42 ′ 9 ″  N , 4 ° 43 ′ 17 ″  E

Map: France
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Barbegal Mills​
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France

The Barbegal Mills are the ruins of a Roman watermill with 16 grinders and an archaeological site in southern France. The facility was built in the 2nd century AD.

Geographical location

Model of the system in the Musée départemental Arles antique in Arles
View from roughly the same direction on the slope with the ruins of the mills

The facility is located 2.5 kilometers southeast of Fontvieille , near the southern French city of Arles , in the Bouches-du-Rhône department , on a natural slope of the Alpilles with an approx. 30% gradient. The gradient of the water flowing down the slope was used to operate the mills.

description

water

The mill was built in the 2nd century AD and was in operation until the beginning of the 3rd century. The water was fed to the mill via an aqueduct , which also supplied the city of Arles with water. The aqueduct, also preserved as a ruin, parted immediately in front of the slope edge. The line to Arles bent at an angle of about 90 ° and continued here with a slight downward gradient to the city. The second line, however, led over the edge of the slope into the mill. After the water had passed through the mill, it flowed into a swamp in the valley.

Grinders

Alpillen – Arles aqueduct before the junction
The bifurcation, view “uphill”: on the right the strand to the mills, on the left the canal to Arles

The mill consisted of 16 individual mills, each of which operated a grinder. They were arranged one behind the other in two parallel rows of eight on the slope. The water drove the mill wheels . The rotary movements were transmitted to the grinders by wooden shafts . These were arranged between the two outer rows of mill wheels. They are the first known example of vertically rotating grinders. Another waterwheel built into the canal operated a cable that pulled the sacks of grain up a ramp to the individual grinders. The system was housed in a building about 61 m long and 20 m wide. The company premises were enclosed by a wall, the remains of which are still preserved on the valley side.

The daily production of the mill is estimated at around 4.5 tons of flour, which is considered sufficient for Arles, which then had around 12,500 inhabitants. Recent research assumes a daily production of up to 25 tons of flour, which may have been used more for the production of ship's biscuits . On the basis of isotope studies of lime deposits, it was also possible to prove that the mills stopped working in late summer and autumn. This would be in line with the seasonal decline in demand in shipping.

meaning

Pierce of the eastern line of the aqueduct through the slope edge to the Barbegal mill

The complex is considered to be the "best preserved [e] [...] in the Roman world" . It was excavated between 1937 and 1939 . As a highly elaborate technical facility from late antiquity, it was initially considered to be evidence of the decline of the slave economy and the profitable use of machines as a result. This hypothesis has since been rejected.

The ruins of the mill and those of the aqueduct are freely accessible. There is no information on site. The system in the exhibition of the Musée départemental Arles antique in Arles is presented in a museum-like manner .

See also

literature

  • M.-C. Amouretti: Barbegal: de l'histoire des fouilles à l'histoire des moulins . In: Provence Historique 167-8 (1992), pp. 135-149.
  • Fernand Benoit: L'usine de meunerie hydraulique de Barbegal (Arles). In: Revue archéologique . Series 6, 15.1 (1940), pp. 19-80.
  • AT Hodge: A Roman factory . In: Scientific American (November 1990), pp. 58-64.
  • Philippe Leveau: The Barbegal water-mill in its environment: archeology and the economic and social history of antiquity . In: Journal of Roman Archeology 9 (1996), pp. 137-53.
  • NN: Les moulins romains de Barbegal, les ponts-aqueducs du vallon des Arcs et l'histoire naturelle de la vallée des Baux (Bilan de six ans de fouilles programmées) . In: Comptes rendus de l'Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (CRAI), January / March 1995, pp. 115-144.
  • CL Sagui: La meunerie de Barbegal (France) et les roues hydrauliques chez les Anciens et au Moyen Âge . In: Isis 38, No. 314 (1948), pp. 225-231.
  • RHJ Sellin: The large Roman water mill at Barbegal (France) . In: History of Technology 8 (1983), pp. 91-109.
  • Gül Sürmelihindi, Philippe Leveau, Christoph Spötl, Vincent Bernard, Cees W. Passchier: The second century CE Roman watermills of Barbegal: Unraveling the enigma of one of the oldest industrial complexes. In: Science Advances. 4, 2018, p. Eaar3620, doi : 10.1126 / sciadv.aar3620 .

Web links

Commons : Barbegal aqueduct  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Gül Sürmelihindi, Philippe Leveau, Christoph Spötl, Vincent Bernard, Cees W. Passchier: The second century CE Roman watermills of Barbegal: Unraveling the enigma of one of the oldest industrial complexes. In: Science Advances. 4, 2018, p. Eaar3620, doi : 10.1126 / sciadv.aar3620 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Roman water pipes . In: Badische Heimat / Landeskunde online 2005 .
  3. ↑ JGU / CS: Barbegal watermills probably produced flour for ship's biscuits . In: Archeology Online . September 7, 2018, accessed September 9, 2018.