The 2nd century CE Roman Barbegal watermill complex, a unique cluster of 16 waterwheels in southern France, was the first known attempt in Europe to set up an industrial-scale complex of machines. The mills had an estimated production capacity of 25 tonnes of flour per day [2015×2904]
by Fuckoff555
3 Comments
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-74900-5](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-74900-5)
[https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar3620](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aar3620)
Im frequently amazed at how close the Romans were to an industrial revolution.
This site also resulted in the world’s first lawsuit about industrial noise negatively impacting someone’s home value and quality of life (i.e. the birth of NIMBY). 🤣
Seriously, though, the noise of all the mills running would have been something unique to witness at that time. Very cool. I had never heard of this site.