# Wood Utilization in Windmill Mechanisms on Sikinos Island (Greece)
## 4 Wood Species Used in Windmills (Sikinos)  
In the windmill mechanism on Sikinos, various wood species were used for the construction of its individual parts (Table 1 and Figure 10). In particular, in most large-sized parts (windshaft, \"panarika\", \"katoplakes\", \"antixono\", \"bratsolia\"), deciduous oak, red (_Q. cerris_ and _Q. Trijana_) or white (all the other _Quercus_ sp.) (according to the wood identification keys of European timber species [22] (p. 582), was used, with the exception of the \"zigos\", which is made of fir (_Abies_ sp.) wood. Additionally, since the wheel is made of many different individual parts, it was usually constructed employing a variety of wood species. Thus, two of the four parts of the wheel rim were made of plane (_Platanus_ sp.) wood species and one part was made of elm (_Ulmus_ sp.) wood. Unfortunately, from the fourth part, it was not feasible to obtain a sample to be analyzed. Also, chestnut (_Castanea sativa_)  
Figure 9: “Violas” (a), found at the windshaft (b), and antixono (c). was used for the \"stavros\" construction and evergreen oak wood (kermes: _Quercus coccifera_; or holm oak: _Quercus ilex_) for the cogs. For the part of \"anemi\", ash (_Fraximus_ sp.) wood was used, while for the smaller parts, the use of both olive (_Olea europaea_) and evergreen oak (_Quercus_ sp.) was frequently applied. The local juniper (_Juniperus_ sp.) was not used in any key part of the mechanism, probably because of the various wood structure defects it presents [23]. Nevertheless, it was used as a structural element on the flooring of the \"anogio\" together with olive logs of a large diameter, but also in the three holes that start from the \"anogio\" and end approximately in the middle of the ground floor, carrying two small logs, horizontally placed, used for the tying of the cord, in order to stop the rotation of the \"sail system\". Figure 10: Wood species used in the windmill mechanism on Sikinos ((**a**). red oak (_Quercus_ sp. ), (**b**). olive (_Olea Europaea_), (**c**). chestnut (_Castanae sativa_), (**d**). elm (_llmus_ sp. ), (**e**). plane (_Platanus_ sp. ), (**f**). holm oak (_Quercus ilex_)) (stereomicroscope 16\(\times\), Nikon SMZ800). Several wood species coincide with those reported in the literature relating Cycladic windmills [3], which are empirically recognized (Table 1) in the use of:  
* Oak (_Quercus_ sp.) wood for the windshaft, \"antivono\" and \"bratsolia\", as well as kermes oak (_Quercus coccifera_) for the wheel cogs and \"pentaravda\";
* Fir (_Abies_ sp.) wood for the \"zigos\";
* Plane (_Platanus_ sp.) wood for the rim of the break wheel,  
While there are no similarities with the windmill studied on the island of los (Cyclades island), which provides evidence of for the overwhelming use of elm wood [15]. Furthermore, there are no common wood species with the windmills reported on the Kasos (Dodecanese), with the exception of the use of kermes oak wood for the cogs of the wheel and the \"pentaravda\", although the available literature is very limited [2], covering only a few individual parts of the mechanism. It is concluded that for the construction of the studied windmill mechanism on Sikinos, hardwood species were used, with the exception of one beam that comes from a softwood species (fir). A clear predominance of oak can even be detected, which is found in almost all very long (windshaft) or relatively long parts (\"panarika\", \"katoplakes\", \"antixono\", \"bratsolia\"), though also in smaller parts (cogs, \"pentaravda\"). In general, oak is a hardwood species of high mechanical strength, with the deciduous oak showing moderate-to-very high density (0.45-0.95 g/cm\({}^{3}\)) and evergreen oak being very heavy (0.80-1.10 g/cm\({}^{3}\)) [22]. The latter (kermes oak or holm oak) was the most suitable species for the construction of the cogs and \"pentaravda\", since these parts were under a lot of mechanical stress because of the continuous rotational movement.