August 26, 2015 - 8:56am
Where bread began
Where bread began: Ancient tools used to reconstruct -- and taste -- prehistoric cuisine.
ScienceDaily just posted this report on new research carried out by archaeologists on a palaeolithic site in the Jordan Valley.
12,500 year-old 'proto-pita' anyone?
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to give up hunter gathering and move to a agricultural society 3,000 years before grain was domesticated and there wasn't much to eat except roasted wild barley made into roof tiles - not much fare there:-)
There is a school of thought that suggests that it was the discovery of brewing that led to the abandonment of nomadic lifestyle. Bread was just a byproduct of that. So, beer... or fighting squirrels for nuts... or beer... That does not sound like much of a leap of faith.
Fascinating. Thanks for the link.
in stone, how long did it take someone to notice that when rain mixed with the pounded grain/flour left in an indentation that something "magical" was going on. Not only for the natural fermentation of alcohol but in the eventual discovery of leavened bread.
Did anyone notice the nearby funeral stone mortars article? About the size for brewing up a little fermented cereal juice? Who's to say they weren't also for pounding nuts and grains into something edible or fermented? Communal punch bowl used first as a drum? What could be more logical? Alcohol and funerals have long been acquainted. Wonder how far back those traditions go?