Miller

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For other uses, see Miller (disambiguation).

A miller is a person who operates a mill for grinding material and usually refers to one who grinds a cereal crop to make flour.

A miller is among the oldest of human occupations and has appeared all over the world. They were important to the development of agriculture but predated it, and were in existence since hunter-gathering times.

The materials ground by millers are often foodstuffs and particularly grain. This allows for the easier digestion of the nutrients within the food and saves wear on the teeth. Any other substance needed in a fine, powdered form such as building materials may be processed by a miller. A new generation of Miller's presently exists.

The most basic tool for a miller would be a quern-stone - simply a large, fixed stone as a base and another movable stone which would be operated by hand. As technology improved, more elaborate machines such as watermills and windmills were developed to do the grinding work. These mills harnessed available energy sources including animal, water, wind and electrical power. As these are some of the oldest factories in human history factories making other items are sometimes known as mills and their workers millers, as in cotton mills and steel mills.

The importance of the profession of the miller in human history is displayed by the fact that it is a common surname.