Basque ethnography at a glance

Larraul mill. Source: Nora Urbizu.

Cereal grinding is the crushing or breaking of the grain. Grinding is one of the first intelligent activities of man, the first step in food processing.

In the Late Bronze Age, the inhabitants of our area knew it, and this is what the hand mills found in excavations carried out in the Iron Age villages of Basagain and Intxur (Gipuzkoa) and in the researches carried out in Anoeta and Albiztur have shown. In these latter cases, they are ship-shaped mills that have appeared around the house.

The territory in which our lands are located has been a meeting place and passage for different cultures for centuries; and each one has left its mark. For example, after the hand mill came the rotating stone mill. The technique based on the water wheel was used in Babylon. This technique used by the Babylonians consisted of immersing a wooden wheel with compartments in water to raise the water to higher places. However, the force was provided by animals or humans. The ancient Greeks, on the other hand, used almost the same mechanism, but, they obtained the energy to operate directly through the power of water. The Romans took over after the expansion of watermills; moving from the vertical wheel to the horizontal wheel, from wooden materials to iron.

Larraul mill. Source: Nora Urbizu.

The passage of time has shown that historical and social changes have been linked to technological transformations or innovations. Milling, on the one hand, and later the use of water energy, was important technological advances that meant great improvements in time, work and performance for society. Without a doubt, mills and forges were an important pre-industrial work activity. The main workplaces of that time are now spaces of great richness from the point of view of industrial archaeology. They are traces of the path and lifestyle of humans, like cave paintings. Windmills reflect the deep relationship that society has had with its environment; they remind us that we are surrounded by cultural landscapes or anthropic spaces. We construct space throughout our lives, living through dynamic social relationships. In short, living is the manifestation of culture in space.

In the towns of Basagain and Intxurre, mills were found inside houses, in the same space. It can be said that mills were both places of residence and work. Or, in other words, they were places where reproductive and productive labours were combined. Julio Caro Baroja has pointed out that the form of a residential area is closely linked to the social and economic structure. Farms and mills are examples of this.

Larraul mill. Source: Nora Urbizu.

The flow of streams and rivers was once measured by the number of mills and forges; although this may be a little unreliable. A high flow in some months does not compensate for the shortage in the summer. However, this was a meter from the past; today it is just a curious fact. The use of water energy changed the way we see things, it changed our worldview. Although initially used only for grinding grain, nothing prevented water power from being extended to other tasks: sawmills, ironworks, grinders, drills, bellows… and even to power the crusher to make cider in some mills. Here is a source of natural energy, adapted to the needs of society.

The mills played an important role, not only for the service they provided, but also for their influence on the cohesion of the social fabric. They were meeting places. Sometimes people left sacks of grain to be ground, and then collected the flour. At other times, they waited there. During those waiting times, small talk and gatherings took place, where neighbours exchanged news, stories, etc. It is no coincidence that some mills also offered bar services. Examples such as these, recorded in oral testimonies, clearly show that they were meeting places, witnesses to countless experiences.

Windmills are spaces that we cannot ignore, with economic, architectural, technical, industrial and even social importance. They have immense interpretive value, and are the guardians of our history. They say that moss does not grow on a rolling stone, let’s keep our millstones rolling!

Nora Urbizu Arozena — Anthropologist