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left-of-center2012

(34,195 posts)
Mon Sep 24, 2018, 06:16 PM Sep 2018

Archaeologists discover bread that predates agriculture by 4,000 years

At an archaeological site in northeastern Jordan, researchers have discovered the charred remains of a flatbread baked by hunter-gatherers 14,400 years ago. It is the oldest direct evidence of bread found to date, predating the advent of agriculture by at least 4,000 years.

The findings suggest that bread production based on wild cereals may have encouraged hunter-gatherers to cultivate cereals, and thus contributed to the agricultural revolution in the Neolithic period.

"The presence of hundreds of charred food remains in the fireplaces from Shubayqa 1 is an exceptional find, and it has given us the chance to characterize 14,000-year-old food practices. The 24 remains analysed in this study show that wild ancestors of domesticated cereals such as barley, einkorn, and oat had been ground, sieved and kneaded prior to cooking. The remains are very similar to unleavened flatbreads identified at several Neolithic and Roman sites in Europe and Turkey.

So we now know that bread-like products were produced long before the development of farming. The next step is to evaluate if the production and consumption of bread influenced the emergence of plant cultivation and domestication at all," said University of Copenhagen archaeobotanist Amaia Arranz Otaegui, who is the first author of the study.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/07/180716151513.htm

One of the stone structures of the Shubayqa 1 site. The fireplace, where the bread was found, is in the middle.
Credit: Alexis Pantos

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Archaeologists discover bread that predates agriculture by 4,000 years (Original Post) left-of-center2012 Sep 2018 OP
Fascinating. K&R and thanks! nt tblue37 Sep 2018 #1
Ok, so where did they get the peanut butter and jelly? underpants Sep 2018 #2
Maybe they used honey? left-of-center2012 Sep 2018 #4
K&R nt lillypaddle Sep 2018 #3
That's...not some "primitive" hunter-gatherer ring-of-stones fire pit. Crash2Parties Sep 2018 #5
Bad cooks proven to exist 14,400 years ago. tclambert Sep 2018 #6
Bread. The root of all evil. SunSeeker Sep 2018 #7

Crash2Parties

(6,017 posts)
5. That's...not some "primitive" hunter-gatherer ring-of-stones fire pit.
Tue Sep 25, 2018, 01:52 PM
Sep 2018

Considering how long modern humans have existed - with fully modern brains - it's amusing how we are so often surprised when they do something sophisticated - me included.

Especially when it's something that most modern Americans don't know how to do (think of the circle of people you know & ratio how many actually have knowledge & experience making bread from scratch).

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