World’s Oldest Bread

Researchers have found evidence that hunter-gatherers started making bread 4,000 years prior to starting agriculture.  Evidence of bread making was found in the north-eastern part of Jordan.  The flatbread charred remains were found to have been made some 14,400 years ago.

Scientists are trying to find the exact date as to when bread was first made by humans.  They may be getting closer since the charred remains of bread were found in the Black Desert in north-eastern Jordan.  Findings suggest that the hunter-gatherers used wild cereals like barley, einkorn, and oat to make the bread.

Since finding the bread remains they are now is search of whether or not this led them to develop plant cultivation and domestication.  The discovery of sickle blades and ground stone tools may have led them to start working with plants in a more effective way.

Researchers have found new ways of determining the contents of the breadcrumbs that were found in the Jordan site.  They are using electron microscopy to identify the particles of each charred food.

It is believed that the making of bread was what might possibly led them to start farming.