Energy expenditure during grain grinding using reciprocal quern and rotary quern

Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F25%3A10500291" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/25:10500291 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=gRbEiAbMII" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=gRbEiAbMII</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2025.106292" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.jas.2025.106292</a>

Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Energy expenditure during grain grinding using reciprocal quern and rotary quern
Original language description
Previous experimental archaeology studies have shown that the transition from reciprocal quern to rotary quern in the Iron Age saved grinding women 75 % of the time and muscle activation per amount of ground grain. However, whether the detected between-quern differences in time and overall muscle activation reflect differences in energy cost is unclear. Here, we used indirect calorimetry (analysis of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production) to measure the energy expenditure during grinding on a Neolithic reciprocal quern and an Iron Age bun-shaped rotary quern in adult females (n = 30). Our results revealed that rotary quern grinding required a 123-153 % higher energy expenditure per minute (by about 2.7 kcal per minute of grinding) but a 42-49 % lower net cost of grinding, i.e., energy expenditure per given amount of grain (by about 74 kcal per kilogram of grain) compared to reciprocal quern. We estimated that transitioning from reciprocal to rotary quern reduced women's daily subsistence costs by 100-300 kcal.
Czech name
—
Czech description
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Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
—
OECD FORD branch
10600 - Biological sciences

Project
<a href="/en/project/GX21-17092X" target="_blank" >GX21-17092X: The Formation of Multi-ethnic Complex Societies in Early Medieval Moravia. Collective Action Theory and Interdisciplinary Approach</a><br>
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year
2025
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

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