It was a small, round, spongy object that was found in the corner of a structure that looked like an oven among the remains of ancient Çatalhöyük (Turkey), the largest and best preserved urban complex from the Neolithic in the Middle East, considered by some historians as the first city in the world.
The artifact was the size of a palm and contained seeds of wheat, barley and peas, probably used for food. Archaeologists have identified this spongy residue as a leavened bread that was made around 8,600 years ago.
The severely damaged ancient kiln was discovered in an area known as “Space 66” of Çatalhöyük, an area characterized by adobe houses with interconnecting roofs accessed from above.
“With meticulous documentation, we identified the small, round, spongy artifact found in the corner of the oven as bread. The fine clay that covered it preserved the wood and the bread, allowing all organic residue to persist. Radiocarbon testing suggested that the sample could date back to around 6600 BC,” explains Ali Umut Turkcan of Anadolu University.
Although the production of leavened bread is well documented in Pharaonic Egypt, about 4,500 years ago, the product found in Turkey is much earlier. “We can say that this discovery made in Çatalhöyük is the oldest bread in the world,” says Turkcan.
“What we have found is the miniature version of a loaf of bread. It has not been baked in the oven, but has been fermented, preserving the starches. An example like this has not existed until now,” adds the archaeologist.
The ancient Neolithic settlement, which once housed around 8,000 people, has always been the center of many firsts. In the first years of excavation, the first textiles in the world were found here. Wooden artifacts, wall paintings and drawings were also discovered.
Salih Kavak, a professor at Gaziantep University, received news of the discovery while examining plant residues in the laboratory. They asked him to examine the sample to determine whether it was “dough, bread or organic waste.”
“After a visual morphological diagnosis and a subsequent microscopic examination, the most interesting thing was the presence of cereal residues,” he highlighted in a statement. The discovery of ground or broken pieces of plants such as barley, wheat and peas “immediately reinforced” the possibility that they were bread.
“Chemical analyzes indicated signs of fermentation, suggesting that the mixture had been prepared but not baked,” he adds. Kavak concluded that this “unprecedented discovery” marks the oldest known bread-like specimen.
