Flour Mill - Handmade Sterling Silver 925 - Melina World Jewelry 5016

Old windmills for the production of flour, are seen everywhere in the Mediterranean area. Wherever the wind conditions are right, like along the coasts or on the high hills, stand an old mill. Either ruins of a mill or an intact mill. They have for centuries been an indispensable part of everyday life. Without them, there was no flour for bread, a major ingredient in the diet for everyone. Before the windmill was invented, people used water mills, a device that has been known since Archimedes. Water mills in Europe were rarely more than a few miles apart. It was very labor demanding and inefficient, so it was a technical revolution when windmills came to Europe. The first wind-powered flour mills were built in the 9th and 10th centuries in what are now Afghanistan and Iran and the technology was spread along the Mediterranean by Crusaders around 1000 AD. The technology behind a windmill is very advanced because they must be able to adapt to the changing operating wind conditions and directions. It requires complex gear systems. The technology is so advanced that many wind mills produced flour until 1950-60s. This Melina Flour Mill is the first Melina bead to be created out of 4 parts and the turbine blades are designed to rotate 360 degrees. Enjoy ..Melina