It’s the oldest item in our collections - a heavy, smooth, conical lump of rock, about nine inches across and four and a half inches high. Known as a beehive quern (due its similarity in shape to a traditional dome-shaped wicker beehive), it was found in north west Essex in the Stansted area and is made of Hertfordshire puddingstone. Although this ancient artefact is probably over 2000 years old, in its day it was a revolutionary new form of technology, both literally and metaphorically.
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