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The horizontal wheel mill This type of mill, very old, was predominant on the island. It was used to process small quantities of grain. Its construction was rapid. The simplicity of its mechanism made it a tool adapted to the island's agro-pastoral production. The villagers grouped together to build, operate and maintain the mill. Thus the Ghjirboni mill was owned by four inhabitants of Curtichjatu. The horizontal driving wheel was placed under the building, in the basement. It was directly connected to the rotating millstone on the upper floor by a vertical drive shaft. The water was forced onto the spoon wheel, which in turn drove the upper millstone (a màcina suprana). The extraction of the millstones The millstones used by the mills of Cutuli è Cutichjatu were extracted from the riverbed. Some of them are still visible along the path. The technique used consisted of digging a trench all around the future millstone, the contours of which were traced on the rock. Once the contouring work was completed, picks were inserted into notches dug under the stone to lift the millstone from its base, using a lever system. This stage was the most delicate. Physical strength, patience and precision were necessary for this work. Indeed, attempts to extract the stone could fail. A crack in the wheel could cause it to break. Everything had to be started again. The refurbishment of the grinding wheels Over time, the millstones of a mill became worn and lost their bite. They therefore needed to be "re-dressed", i.e. re-cut in order to revive the scratches engraved on their surface. The quality of this dressing made it possible to reduce the driving force needed to turn the mill, to obtain a suitable flour yield and a good grind. Each miller had this know-how. Misuri è segni mulinaghji To pay for his work, the miller took u dèlmu, i.e. one tenth of the flour production. The quantity was measured using the bacinu (the decalitre). Millers' signs (segni mulinaghji) were also used as a unit of notation to record the weight on the flour sacks. Although they differed from one micro-region to another, they were transmitted orally between several generations of millers. This system allowed bags to be marked with horizontal and vertical bars and a circle.

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