Grinding stones from the south

‘Ordered today, delivered tomorrow?’ That was unheard of in the Iron Age, of course. On the other hand, in those days people didn’t make everything themselves from local raw materials. Millstones, for instance, came from the Eiffel area, just east of the province of Zuid-Limburg. Not exactly round the corner, but the nearest place where ‘tephrite’ was found, the type of porous volcanic rock that was perfect for grinding grain.   

Fortunately, people didn't have to make the ‘world’ trip to the Eiffel themselves. There were travelling traders who carried all kinds of goods, including grindstones, to replace people’s old and worn ones. They also brought news, sometimes quite alarming: stories of Caesar’s armies burning down entire villages, driving out all the cattle and confiscating or destroying all the crops. So it is not at all surprising that the people in Drenthe had a great fear of the Romans.