A 5,000-year-old piece of bread, unearthed at the Küllüoba Höyüğü excavation site in the Seyitgazi district of Eskişehir, Turkey, was introduced during the opening of International Museums Day at the ETİ Archaeology Museum. The bread is the first known example of leavened, baked bread, dating back approximately 5,000 years. The municipality is producing a bread based on the ingredients discovered in the ancient loaf and putting them on sale.
"Our aim is the sharing of cultural values in society and to carry it to a point where we can gain economically from cultural tourism," said Governor Hüseyin Aksoy.
"We encountered a burnt bread at the threshold of the buried house, which is rarely found in excavations," said Professor Murat Türkteki, the Küllüoba Excavation Head. He provided measurements of the bread, stating, "It is 2.5 centimeters thick and 12.5 centimeters wide."
"Microscopic examinations showed that the bread was quickly baked, burned, and also fermented," Türkteki explained. "We determined that the bread was baked at 150 degrees and above. We identified the type of wheat from the bread, encountering emmer wheat, which still exists but is produced very little." He added, "Emmer wheat constitutes almost 90% of the bread but in large pieces." He also reported that, besides emmer wheat, lentils were found in the bread.
The exhibition at the ETİ Archaeology Museum, titled The Yeast of Time, features the 5,000-year-old burnt bread from Küllüoba Mound and other bread-themed artifacts from the Yazılıkaya Midas excavation.
"The bread was burned. If the bread hadn't been burned, it might not have reached us. It was first baked, then a piece was broken off, and we found the bread in its original place. After a piece was broken off, it was burned. It seems to have been buried at the threshold of the house," said Türkteki.
Türkteki noted that during 2600-2700 BCE, a drought was experienced in Küllüoba, leading to changes in product preferences. "Instead of wheat, black chickpeas were cultivated, and instead of sheep, goats were raised during the drought," he said.
The preparation of this article relied on a news-analysis system.