This week’s item for #FindsFriday shows two adjoining fragments of a quern stone recovered from our summer excavations at Binchester. A quern is a large stone tool that was for grinding material, usually grains and cereals. This example dates to the Roman period. It is made of local stone and is of moderate size. As it was found at Binchester, which is a Roman fort, it could have been used to help produce bread for the entire military force stationed there. This example is interesting because the grooves show an unusual ‘4-harp’ pattern, which flows clockwise instead of the standard anti-clockwise that is usually seen.

 The reconstruction drawing was kindly provided to NAA by John Cruse of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society’s Yorkshire Quern Survey. For more information about his work click here.