The discovery of starch grains on an ancient grindstone reveals that the first flatbreads were made 10,000 years earlier than was previously thought, reports ANSA.
An Italian team working on artefacts from Bilancino [Mugello, Tuscany] analysed deposits on two strange pieces of sandstone and discovered that they were grains of a kind of potato flour.
The flour would have been made into dough using only water and would have resembled a pitta bread in shape, explains Laura Longo of Siena University. Cooked over a fire, the bread would have been crispy and perhaps not very flavoursome but its warmth would have helped the first anatomically modern humans to survive in hostile environments and climates.
Prior to this discovery it was thought that humans began to make bread 20,000 years ago in Israel but the find has shown that the consumption of cereals probably began in Europe, not the Middle East, 30,000 years ago. There have been similar finds in Russia and the Czech Republic.
The Italian researchers have published their findings in the American journal, “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” .
What is your favourite kind of Italian bread?
