Researchers of Sapienza University of Rome and the Autonomous University of Barcelona discovered that during the Late Neolithic period, between 7000 and 5000 B.C., the oldest fully agricultural communities of the Fertile Crescent developed a sophisticated culinary tradition that included baking large breads and flatbreads of different flavours in special trays, known to archaeologists as husking trays. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Nature Group) and also involved the Milà i Fontanals Institute (IMF-CSIC) and the University of Lyon (France).

Husking trays were vessels with a large oval base and low walls, made from rough clay. They differed from ordinary trays because their inner surface was marked with coarse incisions or impressions arranged in a regular, repetitive pattern. Previous experiments on replicas of these trays and baking structures similar to those found in archaeological sites of the period under study had already allowed us to formulate hypotheses about their function. These experiments suggested that large loaves of bread prepared with water and flour were baked on these trays, placed in domed ovens for about 2 hours at an initial temperature of 420°C. The grooves on the inner surface would have made it easier to remove the bread after baking. Moreover, the large size of the loaves, around 3 kg, indicated that they were probably intended for shared consumption by a group of people.

Today, the Italian-Spanish research team analysed ceramic fragments of husking trays dating back to the period between 6400 and 5900 B.C. to identify their use as vessels specialised in cooking cereal doughs and to verify whether these doughs were seasoned with products such as animal fats or vegetable oils. The remains analysed 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 conducted at Istanbul University and Koç University (Turkey).

The study, based on different types of integrated analyses, provides clear clues both on the use of these artefacts and on the nature of the processed foods. In particular, the analysis of phytoliths (silica particles present in plants) suggests that cereals such as wheat or barley were processed in the trays and reduced to flour. Furthermore, the analysis of organic residues indicates that some of these trays were used to cook foods containing ingredients of animal origin, such as fat, and in one case vegetable seasonings. The state of degradation of the residues suggests that, in at least two cases, the vessels reached temperatures compatible with those experimentally verified for baking dough in domed ovens. The analysis of the alterations of use present on the ceramic surface made it possible to identify traces of use specifically associated with bread residues and others relating to residues of seasoned focaccia.

"Our research", says Sergio Taranto of the Department of Ancient World Studies and first author of the study which is part of the PhD thesis conducted at Sapienza and UAB, "offers a vivid picture of communities that used cultivated cereals to prepare breads and "focaccia" enriched with different ingredients and to be consumed in groups. The use of husking trays that we have identified leads us to consider that this Late Neolithic culinary tradition developed over about six centuries and was practised in a wide area of the Near East".

References:
Taranto, S., Barcons, A.B., Portillo, M. et al. «Unveiling the culinary tradition of ‘focaccia’ in Late Neolithic Mesopotamia by way of the integration of use-wear, phytolith & organic-residue analyses». Sci Rep 14, 26805 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-78019-9

Further Information

Sergio Taranto
LTFAPA Lab., Department of Ancient World Studies
sergio.taranto@uniroma.it