Archaeologists have found bread crumbs 14,000 years old

Reading time: 2 min – Spotted on The Guardian

Carbonized crumbs were found in old chimneys and were identified as the first traces of bread – which would have appeared even before agriculture. 19659003] The remains, small pieces of a few millimeters, were discovered by archaeologists at the site of the Wadi Rum Desert in northeastern Jordan. With the 14 carbon dating techniques, scientists have determined that the chimneys were used more than 14,000 years ago.

" Bread has always been seen as a product of agriculture, societies sedentary but we have evidence in Jordan that this preceded the emergence of plant cultures … At least 3,000 years "said Tobias Richter of Denmark, co-author of the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). He adds that agriculture has really appeared in this region around 8.000 BC

The site, excavated from 2012 to 2015, was used by hunter-gatherers known as Natufiens, who forage for old seeds. The bread was therefore produced even before the cultivation of plants.

Among the remains, the team dug up small round tubers of moist plants, traces of vegetables and plants belonging to the cabbage family, wild cereals like ground wheat and barley and 642 charred crumbs, a little like " this that we could find in the bottom of his toaster at home or what falls when we put the toaster too strong ," says archaeologist Ritcher

Bread for a treat

According to the badyzes, the flour used to make this bread had to be sieved. The absence of an oven suggests that bread was baked in the ashes of fire or on a hot stone. It probably looked like a relatively flat unleavened ball.

According to researchers, it is unlikely that bread was a staple of the food of the day. There is every reason to believe that the intense work required by the preparation made it an exceptional food. Either to celebrate the end of a hunting and gathering trip, or as part of a feast or ritual ceremony. Bones of a dozen animals found with crumbs confirm this idea. An element that challenges the badysis of the diet of our ancestors, its vocation was not only nutritious but could also be cultural, ritual or even social.

The bread is so old

While the crumbs found are now the oldest remnants of bread in the world, stealing the limelight from those discovered in Turkey at Çatal Höyük dating back to 9.100 years, the recipe could be even older according to scientists.

" The remains of food have long been ignored by archeology, and therefore have not been sufficiently studied ," notes Amaia Arranz-Otaegui, l one of the researchers at the Guardian. " I'm sure that if you look at other, older sites, you can surely find some kind of grain bread during the Paleolithic, for example, 25,000 years ago." "

We are waiting impatiently for the recipe, which has not yet been perfected. In trying to go to the nearest, the researchers found the taste a little salty, not really adapted to our current palates.