The Oliemolen (literally Oilmill) is a 16th-century watermill located at the foot of a steep hill in the Aambos , Heerlen in the Netherlands . The name already tells us much about its function, extracting oil , but this was not always the case as it first functioned as a volmolen (a mill to press wool ). The mill is fed by the Caumerbeek .
14-427: A copy, dating to May 31, 1710, of the original deed exists, indicating the mill was founded on May 9, 1502, commissioned by the family Van Scheasberg . However, names of notables on the deed do not correlate with the people in those positions in the beginning of the 16th century; possibly a "0" was mistaken for a "6", making the founding year 1562. In 1829 a license was granted for the mill to mill grain , which became
28-529: Is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legumes . After being harvested, dry grains are more durable than other staple foods , such as starchy fruits ( plantains , breadfruit , etc.) and tubers ( sweet potatoes , cassava , and more). This durability has made grains well suited to industrial agriculture , since they can be mechanically harvested , transported by rail or ship, stored for long periods in silos , and milled for flour or pressed for oil . Thus,
42-457: Is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agricultural products. Healthy grain supply and trade is important to many societies, providing a caloric base for most food systems as well as important role in animal feed for animal agriculture . The grain trade is as old as agricultural settlement, identified in many of the early cultures that adopted sedentary farming. Major societal changes have been directly connected to
56-565: Is sometimes grown as a perennial . Winter varieties are hardy enough to be planted in the autumn, becoming dormant in the winter, and harvested in spring or early summer; spring varieties are planted in spring and harvested in late summer. The term cereal is derived from the name of the Roman goddess of grain crops and fertility, Ceres . Cereals were domesticated in the Neolithic , some 8,000 years ago. Wheat and barley were domesticated in
70-747: The Fertile Crescent ; rice was domesticated in East Asia, and sorghum and millet were domesticated in West Africa. Maize was domesticated by Indigenous peoples of the Americas in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago. In the 20th century, cereal productivity was greatly increased by the Green Revolution . This increase in production has accompanied a growing international trade , with some countries producing large portions of
84-486: The grain market is a major global commodity market that includes crops such as maize , rice , soybeans , wheat and other grains. Grains and cereal are synonymous with caryopses , the fruits of the grass family . In agronomy and commerce, seeds or fruits from other plant families are called grains if they resemble caryopses. For example, amaranth is sold as " grain amaranth ", and amaranth products may be described as "whole grains". The pre-Hispanic civilizations of
98-685: The Andes had grain-based food systems, but at higher elevations none of the grains was a cereal . All three grains native to the Andes ( kaniwa , kiwicha , and quinoa ) are broad-leafed plants rather than grasses such as corn, rice, and wheat. A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods . They include rice , wheat , rye , oats , barley , millet , and maize . Edible grains from other plant families, such as buckwheat and quinoa , are pseudocereals . Most cereals are annuals , producing one crop from each planting, though rice
112-420: The cereal supply for other countries. Starchy grains from broadleaf (dicot) plant families: Pulses or grain legumes , members of the pea family , have a higher protein content than most other plant foods, at around 20%, while soybeans have as much as 35%. As is the case with all other whole plant foods, pulses also contain carbohydrates and fat. Common pulses include: Oilseed grains are grown primarily for
126-486: The creation of the first temporary settlements and the division of society into classes. This assumption that grain agriculture led to early settlements and social stratification has been challenged by James Scott in his book Against the Grain . He argues that the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to settled agrarian communities was not a voluntary choice driven by the benefits of increased food production due to
140-454: The extraction of their edible oil . Vegetable oils provide dietary energy and some essential fatty acids . They are also used as fuel and lubricants. Ancient grains is a marketing term used to describe a category of grains and pseudocereals that are purported to have been minimally changed by selective breeding over recent millennia, as opposed to more widespread cereals such as corn , rice and modern varieties of wheat , which are
154-735: The grain trade, such as the fall of the Roman Empire . From the early modern period onward, grain trade has been an important part of colonial expansion and international power dynamics. The geopolitical dominance of countries like Australia, the United States, Canada and the Soviet Union during the 20th century was connected with their status as grain surplus countries. Those who handle grain at grain facilities may encounter numerous occupational hazards and exposures . Risks include grain entrapment , where workers are submerged in
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#1732783836515168-402: The long storage potential of grains, but rather that the shift towards settlements was a coerced transformation imposed by dominant members of a society seeking to expand control over labor and resources. The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals such as wheat , barley , maize , and rice , and other food grains . Grain is an important trade item because it
182-528: The only use of the mill in 1904. 50°53′03″N 5°59′13″E / 50.884075°N 5.986882°E / 50.884075; 5.986882 This Dutch-history -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a Dutch building or structure is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit ( caryopsis ) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop
196-524: The product of thousands of years of selective breeding. Ancient grains are often marketed as being more nutritious than modern grains, though their health benefits over modern varieties have been disputed by some nutritionists . Because grains are small, hard and dry, they can be stored, measured, and transported more readily than can other kinds of food crops such as fresh fruits, roots and tubers. The development of grain agriculture allowed excess food to be produced and stored easily which could have led to
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