
43 
the upper half of the .stone ; but. it will be observed that in the 
example now submitted, the mode of attachment was by means 
of a dove-tailed groove extending from the rim of the stone to 
what I will venture to call the grain hopper in the centre, the 
handle fitting in, as shewn in the example which I have had made, 
which may or may not resemble the original, but it will at all 
events serve to explain the principle. It will be observed that 
the stone stands higher on the side containing the groove, no doubt 
to give the handle a better hold. One of the Glastonbury 
specimens is of this construction, but in that case the dove-tail 
does not extend through to the grain hopper, stopping short by 
an inch. These Querns are supposed to have been fixed in 
shallow wooden boxes, into which the meal or flour produced 
dropped on leaving the stones, but what kind of article was thus 
produced, or what kind of grain was chiefly treated by such mills, 
we can only conjecture. 
In this, as in the Glastonbury examples, it is difficult to identify 
the geological formation from which the stone has been obtained, 
which could only be solved by breaking up the specimen. 
In comparing the Quern with the modern Indian example from 
the adjoining museum, we cannot fail to be impressed with the 
fact that the human intellect is much the same in all generations, 
and that the same primitive conditions beget primitive 
contrivances in half civilized nations now as in the ages long 
since passed away. 
The Spindle Whorl.—The specimen found in the Tyning quarry, 
and now exhibited, is a guod example of another early contrivance 
which was in common use amongst our ancestors in the ancient. 
British and Romano-British age. It was used in spinning yarn, 
a short rod being fixed in the hole in the centre and held in one 
hand, while with the other the early craftsman or craftswoman 
made the whorl spin round, giving the requisite twist to the yarn. 
The same remark which I have already made about the hand 
_ mills, ancient and modern, would appear to be equally applicable 
