Posted on 12/03/2024 6:57:59 AM PST by Red Badger
‘Focaccia’ seasoned with animal fat baked in an experimental replica husking tray. Credit: Sergio Taranto
Late Neolithic communities in the Fertile Crescent baked large, seasoned breads using grooved husking trays. Analysis of archaeological remains highlights a six-century culinary tradition involving cereal processing and communal meals.
A study led by researchers from the UAB and the University La Sapienza in Rome reveals that during the Late Neolithic, between 7000 and 5000 BCE, fully agricultural communities in the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East developed a complex culinary tradition. This tradition included baking large loaves of bread and “focaccias” with various flavors on specialized trays, known to archaeologists as husking trays.
The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports and also involved staff from the Milà i Fontanals Institution (IMF-CSIC) and the University of Lyon (France).
The husking trays were containers with a large oval base and low walls, made of coarse clay. They differed from common trays due to their internal surface, marked with rough impressions or incisions arranged repetitively and regularly. Previous experiments using replicas of these trays and cooking structures similar to those found at archaeological sites from the studied period had already allowed researchers to hypothesize their function.
These investigations suggested that large loaves made with water and flour might have been baked on these trays, placed in domed ovens for about 2 hours at an initial temperature of 420°C. The grooves on the internal surface would have facilitated the removal of the bread once baked. Moreover, the large size of the loaves, approximately 3 kg, suggested they were likely intended for communal consumption.
Analyzing Traces of Neolithic Breadmaking
The research team analyzed ceramic fragments of husking trays from between 6400 and 5900 BCE to identify their use as specialized containers for baking cereal-based doughs and whether these doughs could have been seasoned with products such as animal fat or vegetable oil. The analyzed remains come from the archaeological sites of Mezraa Teleilat, Akarçay Tepe, and Tell Sabi Abyad, located in the area between Syria and Turkey. The analyses were carried out at the Universities of Istanbul and the Koç (Turkey).
The study, based on various types of analyses from an integrated perspective, provides clear evidence regarding both the uses of these artifacts and the nature of the foods processed in them. In particular, the analysis of phytoliths (silica residues from plants) suggests that cereals such as wheat (Triticum sp.) or barley (Hordeum sp.), reduced to flour, were processed in these trays.
Focaccia With Animal Fat Replica
‘Focaccia’ with animal fat experimentally baked in a replica husking tray inside a domed oven. Credit: Sergio Taranto
Furthermore, the analysis of organic residues indicates that some of the trays were used to cook foods containing animal-derived ingredients, such as animal fat, and in one case, plant-based seasonings. The degradation state of the residues suggests that, in at least two cases, the trays reached temperatures compatible with those experimentally verified for baking dough in domed ovens. Finally, the use-alterations analysis of the ceramic surface allowed the identification of use-wear specifically associated with bread residues and others linked to seasoned focaccia residues.
“Our study offers a vivid picture of communities using the cereals they cultivated to prepare breads and ‘focaccias’ enriched with various ingredients and consumed in groups,” explains Sergio Taranto, lead author of the study, part of a doctoral thesis carried out at the UAB and La Sapienza. “The use of the husking trays we identified leads us to consider that this Late Neolithic culinary tradition developed over approximately six centuries and was practiced in a wide area of the Near East,” the researcher concludes.
Reference:
“Unveiling the culinary tradition of ‘focaccia’ in Late Neolithic Mesopotamia by way of the integration of use-wear, phytolith & organic-residue analyses”
by Sergio Taranto, Adrià Breu Barcons, Marta Portillo, Marie Le Miere, Anna Bach Gomèz, Miquel Molist and Cristina Lemorini, 5 November 2024, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-78019-9
Researchers from the UAB’s Prehistoric Archaeology of the Near East Research Group (SAPPO), Adrià Breu, Anna Bach, and Miquel Molist, are also authors of the study.
I saw some of this for sale on clearance in Publix last week................
lol
I wonder if they spoke Italian :)
I’ve been served some focaccia that was nearly that old.
Well, if you can’t eat it, they are great for disc golf!...........
LOL
I have 10 italian restaurants within 2 miles of my house.
There’s not much room for putting out something that wasn’t up to par.
But they still do sometimes :)
“The grooves on the internal surface would have facilitated the removal of the bread once baked.”
Pure genius if true. Anyone know why?
“ 2 hours at an initial temperature of 420°”
That’s 788F.
It must have been the ancient equivalent of a microwave at that temp!
Or skeet shooting.
Yep! lol
lol
“ 2 hours at an initial temperature of 420°”
That’s 788F.
It must have been the ancient equivalent of a microwave at that temp!”
That has to be wrong if means 420 Celsius. At 788F it wouldn’t it be burnt to pure carbon before two hours? Probably within an hour?
They were very poor people, so poor they couldn’t speak except in outrageous accent.
ROFL
I didn’t see you at my family Thanksgiving party!!
You must have guessed :)
Thanks Red Badger.
Breadmaking appears to have been going on long before this, but probably no outdoor cafes. :^)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natufian_culture#Development_of_agriculture
I would have tried it years before I did, in pre-cellphone days, but the wait for the table took too long and someone was tying up the pay phone.
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