ABSTRACT
Lumber, also called sawnwood, is an important historical antecedent of the wood products industry. The Hierapolis sawmill, a Roman waterpowered stone sawmill at Hierapolis, Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), dating to the second half of the third century AD, is the earliest known sawmill. It is also the earliest known machine to incorporate a crank and connecting rod mechanism. Waterpowered stone sawmills working with cranks and connecting rods, but without gear train, are archaeologically attested for the sixth century AD at the Eastern Roman cities Gerasa and Ephesus (Ritti et al. 2007).
