Last Updated: March 11, 2024, 00:31 IST
The 8,600-year-old bread was discovered on the Neolithic archeological website of Çatalhöyük at Cumra district in Konya, Turkey. (Image: @DrDavidMiano/X)
Archeologists in Turkey uncover the world’s oldest bread relationship again to 6600 BC on the Çatalhöyük website, shedding mild on historical meals practices
Archeologists in Turkey have unearthed what’s believed to be the oldest bread ever discovered, relationship again to 6600 BC, a number of information networks together with CNN have reported. The discover was made on the archeological website of Çatalhöyük within the southern Turkish province of Konya.
The discovery was made round a largely destroyed oven construction in an space often known as “Mekan 66,” amid mudbrick homes. According to Turkey’s Necmettin Erbakan University Science and Technology Research and Application Center (BİTAM), archeologists discovered wheat, barley, pea seeds, and a palm-sized, spherical, “spongy” residue close to the oven.
This discovery sheds new mild on historical meals practices and provides helpful insights into the culinary heritage of early civilisations. Analysis of the natural residue revealed it to be 8,600 years outdated, constituting raw, fermented bread. Archeologist Ali Umut Türkcan, head of the Excavation Delegation and affiliate professor at Anadolu University, described the discover as important. “We can say that this find at Çatalhöyük is the oldest bread in the world,” Türkcan mentioned.
The bread, resembling a smaller model of a loaf, confirmed indicators of fermentation and was preserved with its starches intact. Biologist Salih Kavak from Gaziantep University emphasised the significance of the discover, saying, “It is an exciting discovery for Turkey and the world.” According to media stories, scanning electron microscope pictures revealed air areas within the pattern, confirming the presence of starch grains and offering proof of fermentation. The bread had been ready subsequent to the oven and stored for some time, in accordance to the evaluation.
The natural matter, together with wooden and bread, was preserved by skinny clay masking the construction. Çatalhöyük, a UNESCO World Heritage website, was a thriving group in the course of the Neolithic interval, housing roughly 8,000 individuals between 10,000 BC and a couple of,000 BC, making it one of many earliest examples of urbanisation.
