An overhead view shows the full layout of the 3,000-year-old bakery.Patrick Okrajek
Posted on 06/04/2023 10:22:17 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Last fall, when researchers unearthed the remains of a 3,000-year-old structure in the western Armenian town of Metsamor, they faced two mysteries: First, they didn’t know what purpose the structure had served. Beyond that, a strange powdery substance covering the area left them stumped...
The team assumed, at first, the material was simply ash. After all, charred remnants of the building’s reed roof and wooden beams indicated it had met its end in a fire...
The powder wasn’t ash, but wheat flour. They had unearthed an ancient bakery.
Archaeologists estimate that the structure could have once held as much as 3.5 tons of flour, making it a site for mass production. They also found that furnaces were likely added after the building’s construction, indicating that the structure may have once served another purpose...
The bakery’s flour is now far past its prime. Still, the discovery remains important; the building is one of the oldest known structures of its kind from the southern Caucasus and eastern Anatolia, per Szymon Zdziebłowski of Science in Poland.
The building appears to have operated between the late 11th and early 9th century B.C.E. as part of the fortified settlement established at Metsamor in the 4th millennium B.C.E.
Little is known about the settlement, which covered 247 acres before being conquered in the eighth century B.C.E. by Argishti I, since its ancient inhabitants did not have a written language, according to Science in Poland. However, archaeologists continue to learn more about Metsamor through new discoveries, including a recently unearthed tomb filled with gold pendants. Jakubiak tells Live Science that his team plans to continue to examine the bakery, which is remarkably well-preserved, in order to gain more insight into Metsamor’s history.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
An overhead view shows the full layout of the 3,000-year-old bakery.Patrick Okrajek
When was yeast discovered? Who made the first light, fluffy rolls?
Yeast probably made itself known. :)
It took a lot of organization to feed all the trades men ...stone cutters , wood workers , Those old boys weren't as simple and primitive as some would have us believe.
Nonsense! I never pay attention to those 'use by' dates.
Let’s see: No High Fructose Corn Syrup. No Glycolates. No artificial sweeteners. No artificial coloring. No fluoride in the water. And at this point, no lead pipes. Outside from dawn to dusk. Plenty of exercise. That would make for a pretty healthy life.
Is there gluten free Archeology?
“Yeast probably made itself known. :)”
Wymyn became in charge.
Bud Light ensued....
The rest of the Urartu keyword (which includes the three topics in the Argishti I kw), sorted:
Why didn’t Urartia make it into the Bible?
Reminds me of a solid movie
First Cow=abt the first dairy cow in the pacific northwest-resulting in the first donuts etc.....
I can’t imagine living without donuts-I may be overrating the movie a bit. But it was a decent piece on the times.
Hofbäckerei Edegger-Tax is the oldest operating bakery in Graz, Austria, founded in 1569..
“Dig we must.....”
This bakery must have been active while the kingdom of Urartu existed. Didn’t the Urartians have a system of writing? They were rivals to the Assyrians, after all.
They knead to dig.
no diabites? no high blood pressure? it would be interesting to know what daily life was really like back then .... but I suppose every life has it's own challenges and rewards.
The simple things in life don't change much over time...
Exactly how different is beer from bread?
On average....
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