A team of researchers from Anadolu University were excavating a bakery at the ancient city of Çatalhöyük, uncovered an artifact that has been identified as an unbaked loaf of bread from around 6600 BCE. Collaborating scientists detected a combination of wheat, barley, and pea seeds in the small, round loaf. They also found that the loaf had been fermented, which preserved the starches, and made them easier to identify. The loaf was described as spongy with abundant air pockets and intact starch grains.
The largely destroyed oven structure was found in an area of the site known as “Mekan 66” where there are adjoining mudbrick houses that shared a single roof. The loaf also bore the imprint of someone’s finger who was likely testing its texture and firmness to determine whether it was ready to be baked.
Çatalhöyük, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was home to approximately 8,000 people during the Neolithic period, between around 10,000 BCE to 2,000 BCE, and is one of the world’s first places of urbanization. The city which preserved many artifacts from early settled agricultural life, also has some of the earliest known woven extiles, wooden artifacts, and decoratively painted walls.
(Words by Lauramk, Photos from news sources)