Molino rotatorio romano con inscripción «Turro» procedente del castro de San Chuis (San Martín de Beduledo, Allande, Asturias)

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of a catillus fragment corresponding to a rotary grain mill from the Roman era found in the San Chuis Fort in Allande, Asturias. One distinctive feature of this grain mill is the fact that it contains an inscription that mentions the word Turro. Among the possible interpretations of this epigraph, we advocate the hypothesis that this word designates the owner or user of mola manuaria. To support this theory, we analyze other mills with inscriptions found in the Roman world that refer to concrete military units –contubernium, centuria, turma– or prayers and other records from the civilian circles. In the absence of any military structure, we argue that this inscription indicates there were no military units present in that fort during that time, or that at least they didn’t adhere to a particular military hierarchy, even though this does not refute the fact that the civilian population lived in a heavily militarized area.