The mills are composed of two millstones of volcanic
rock and a brick base to hold them. The lower stone (meta) was conical, while the upper one (catillus)
was hollow at the top and biconical.
Using a wooden framework
with two jutting arms it was turned either by man-power or by
mule-power and they took up the whole area of the floor of the mill.
The grain was poured slowly into the cavity of tha catillus,
crashed between tha surfaces of the two stones and collected as flour
around the circular stone base which was protected by a thin sheet of
lead. Tha presence of the counters for kneading dough, the ovens and
the shops for selling, all next to the mills show that tha bread
industry was still primitive in ancient times.
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