Miller Magazine Issue 107 / November 2018

82 MILLER / NOVEMBER 2018 At the Natufian research site Shubayqa 1 in north-eastern Jordan, a team of archaeologists and ethnologists from the universities of Copen- hagen, London and Cambridge have achieved a sensational find: Amaia Arranz-Otaegui, Lara Gonzalez Carretero, Monica Ramsey, Dorian Fuller and Tobias Richter have submitted the first empirical evidence of flat bread loaves made from wild grain varieties(1). The 14,000-ye- ar-old bread marks the beginning of the art of baking. After earlier finds of unprocessed starch grains on stone tools at Shubayqa and charred bread remains made from cultivated Neolithic wheat in the intestines of “Ötzi the Iceman”, the missing link in the history of bread had now been closed. This adds yet another new facet to the cultural history of baking, but we have by no means reached the end of the story. Flat bread – an invention of the Middle East At an estimated age of 14,400 years, these bread remains are the oldest bakery products ever found. They confirm the scientific thesis that bread found its way into our ancestors’ diet even before the start of agriculture as a way of life over 10,000 years ago. Analyses of the charred remains suggest that the wild precursors of early domesticated cereals like einkorn, rye, millet or oats, and even roots, were used for making flat loaves. They were ground, carefully sifted, picked over and kneaded into dough.(2) Although the grain yield at this time would have been sufficient to feed the family clans, bread did not become a staple food until the Neolithic Revolution.(3) From a side dish to a main meal Shubayqa is one of the oldest Natufian sites The Stone-Age Taste of Flat Bread “Since mills in the Middle East are confronted with fluctuating cereal qualities, just as elsewhere, food technologies in the field of flour improvement can make a huge contribution to stabilizing the quality of the bread. The future development of Arabian flat bread is likely to be influenced strongly by new techniques of flour standardization, flour improvement and flour fortification. Just as man learned to cultivate cereals to meet his needs nearly 14,000 years ago, flour technology now helps to meet the expectations of millers, bakers and consumers.” Volkmar Wywiol Florian Köfler Founder and Managing Partner Stern-Wywiol Gruppe Public Relations Hoyningen-Huene