At an archaeological site inward northeastern Jordan, researchers convey discovered the charred remains of a flatbread baked past times hunter-gatherers 14,400 years ago. It is the oldest guide evidence of staff of life found to date, predating the advent of agriculture past times at to the lowest degree 4,000 years. The findings advise that staff of life production based on wild cereals may convey encouraged hunter-gatherers to cultivate cereals, as well as thence contributed to the agricultural revolution inward the Neolithic period.
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One of the rock structures of the Shubayqa 1 site. The fireplace, where the staff of life was found,
is inward the middle [Credit: Alexis Pantos] |
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 squad of researchers from the University of Copenhagen, University College London as well as University of Cambridge convey analysed charred nutrient remains from a 14,400-year-old Natufian hunter-gatherer site -- a site known every bit Shubayqa 1 located inward the Black Desert inward northeastern Jordan. The results, which are published inward the mag
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, render the earliest empirical evidence for the production of bread:
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A fight of 14,400-year former charred bread, nearly 2 millimeters inward size. Note the bubbles from kneading.
Like matza, it was non leavened [Credit: Lara Gonzales Carratero] |
"The presence of hundreds of charred nutrient remains inward the fireplaces from Shubayqa 1 is an special find, as well as it has given us the run a hazard to characterize 14,000-year-old nutrient practices. The 24 remains analysed inward this written report demonstrate that wild ancestors of domesticated cereals such every bit barley, einkorn, as well as oat had been ground, sieved as well as kneaded prior to cooking. The remains are really similar to unleavened flatbreads identified at several Neolithic as well as Roman sites inward Europe as well as Turkey. So nosotros at in i trial know that bread-like products were produced long earlier the evolution of farming. The adjacent pace is to evaluate if the production as well as consumption of staff of life influenced the emergence of flora tillage as well as domestication at all," said University of Copenhagen archaeobotanist Amaia Arranz Otaegui, who is the commencement writer of the study.
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The prehistoric people at Shubayqa built solid rock homes over 14,000 years ago,
and began making staff of life [Credit: Alexis Pantos] |
University of Copenhagen archeologist Tobias Richter, who led the excavations at Shubayqa 1 inward Jordan, explained: "Natufian hunter-gatherers are of particular involvement to us because they lived through a transitional menstruum when people became to a greater extent than sedentary as well as their diet began to change. Flint sickle blades every bit good every bit reason rock tools found at Natufian sites inward the Levant convey long led archaeologists to suspect that people had begun to exploit plants inward a dissimilar as well as maybe to a greater extent than effective way. But the apartment staff of life found at Shubayqa 1 is the earliest evidence of staff of life making recovered as well as so far, as well as it shows that baking was invented earlier nosotros had flora cultivation. So this evidence confirms roughly of our ideas. Indeed, it may live on that the early on as well as extremely time-consuming production of staff of life based on wild cereals may convey been i of the fundamental driving forces behind the afterwards agricultural revolution where wild cereals were cultivated to render to a greater extent than convenient sources of food."
Charred remains nether the microscope The charred nutrient remains were analysed amongst electronic microscopy at a University College London lab past times PhD candidate Lara Gonzalez Carratero (UCL Institute of Archaeology), who is an practiced on prehistoric bread:
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A slice of a grinding rock or bowl: Somebody was making flour at Shubayqa, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan millennia
before intense agriculture began [Credit: Alexis Pantos] |
"The identification of 'bread' or other cereal-based products inward archeology is non straightforward. There has been a style to simplify classification without actually testing it against an identification criteria. We convey established a novel laid upwardly of criteria to position apartment bread, dough as well as porridge similar products inward the archaeological record. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy nosotros identified the microstructures as well as particles of each charred nutrient remain," said Gonzalez Carratero.
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Excavations inward progress at the Neolithic site of Shubayqa inward the Black Desert of Jordan,
which 14,400 years ago, had been quite lush [Credit: Alexis Pantos] |
"Bread involves labour intensive processing which includes dehusking, grinding of cereals as well as kneading as well as baking. That it was produced earlier farming methods suggests it was seen every bit special, as well as the wishing to brand to a greater extent than of this special nutrient in all probability contributed to the determination to commence to cultivate cereals. All of this relies on novel methodological developments that permit us to position the remains of staff of life from really modest charred fragments using high magnification," said Professor Dorian Fuller (UCL Institute of Archaeology).
Research into prehistoric nutrient practices continues Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 grant of late awarded to the University of Copenhagen squad volition ensure that query into nutrient making during the transition to the Neolithic volition continue:
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Dr. Amaia Arranz-Otaegui as well as Ali Shakaiteer sampling cereals
in the Shubayqa surface area [Credit: Joe Roe] |
"The Danish Council for Independent Research has of late approved farther funding for our work, which volition permit us to investigate how people consumed dissimilar plants as well as animals inward greater detail. Building on our query into early on bread, this volition inward the futurity range us a ameliorate persuasion why sure as shooting ingredients were favoured over others as well as were eventually selected for cultivation," said Tobias Richter.
The Shubayqa projection query was funded past times the Independent Research Fund Denmark. Permission to excavate was granted past times the Department of Antiquities of Jordan.
Source: University of Copenhagen - Faculty of Humanities [July 16, 2018] Sumber http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com
