Thousands of such mills were built across mainland Greece and on the larger islands, essentially used to produce flour. The Museum's flourmill belongs to the type with a horizontal paddle wheel. The water is channelled into the headrace (or millrace) and, via the flume, is projected onto the paddles (or blades) of the waterwheel and rotates it. The spindle, a vertical wooden shaft, transmits the motion to the upper millstone (the runner stone), while the lower one (the bed stone) is fixed immovably to the floor and remains stationary. The grain is placed in the hopper (an open-topped, tapered container). A small wooden rod, the damsel, connects the hopper to the runner stone, to which the rattler ("vardalistra"), a circular piece of wood with notches, is affixed. Due to the vibrations caused by the rotary motion, the grain falls through and is ground between the two millstones. The meal is then collected in the meal box, from where it is removed with a wooden scoop. The miller's toll (i.e. his fee) was paid in kind and corresponded to approximately 10% of the milled product. Since the mill functioned on a continuous basis, the miller usually lived next to it, together with his –generally large- family, whose members also participated in running the mill.