History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s1.t1.2

v1.c26.s1.t1.2

In these sites also occurred a heavy rotary quern in two parts, the upper portion of which had two circular holes opposite each other through which a wooden pole could be introduced; two persons sitting opposite each other could then work this portion against the flat lower cylindrical base stone. Later, on the rim of the upper stone was provided a single socket in which a stout upright wooden peg could be affixed for circular movement by a single person. It has been argued that the earlier type is indigenous (Sankalia, 1987, pp.39-54) while the latter with a single peg was introduced during Roman contacts in the early Christian era (Dikshit, 1939). A very large heavy circular stone with a central hole has been found at Lothal (Dikshit, 1939) and Mohenjodaro (Mackay, 1938, Pl. 54, Item 20). One view is that this object represents a stratigraphical displacement (Dikshit, 1939); another is that the stone could be a large pulley for drawing water from wells (Bag, 1985, p.43) and not the upper half of a cākki.