The life and death of a flourmill: McCrossin's Mill, Uralla

To varying extents old buildings are historical documents. In the following paper Luke Godwin of the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of New England, discusses his recent investigations of McCrossin's Mill, a late 19th century flourmill at Uralla in northern New South Wales. He sees the construction of the mill and the material remains of its working life, closure and subsequent use, as a reflection of the economic history of New England, in particular of the history of the former flour and wheat industry of this area. Furthermore, he sees the life and death of this mill as part of a changing economic pattern in Australia, in which flourmilling, like some other industries, gradually became concentrated in the main cities. The millstones of small country mills like McCrossin's were unable to produce a flour that could compete with that of the steel roller mills of the big cities and, because the country millers could not afford to adopt the new technology, their mills were doomed to closure.

在不同程度上，老旧建筑均可视为历史文献。新英格兰大学（University of New England）史前与考古系的卢克·戈德温（Luke Godwin）在本文中探讨了其对新南威尔士州北部乌拉拉地区一座19世纪末期面粉厂——麦克罗辛磨坊（McCrossin's Mill）的最新考古调查。他将该磨坊的建筑本体、运营时期、关停及后续使用的物质遗存，视作新英格兰地区经济史的具象缩影，尤其映射了该区域昔日面粉与小麦产业的发展历程。此外，他认为这座磨坊的兴衰是澳大利亚经济格局变迁的组成部分：与其他部分产业相仿，面粉加工业逐渐向核心城市集中。诸如麦克罗辛磨坊这类乡村小型磨坊所使用的石磨，无法产出可与大城市钢制辊磨所制面粉相媲美的产品；加之乡村磨坊主无力承担新技术的购置与应用成本，这类乡村磨坊最终难逃关停的命运。