List of ancient watermills

The water wheel and watermill are the earliest instances of machines harnessing natural forces to replace human muscular labour (apart from the sail).

[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.

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.

[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.

[101] 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.

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 ]