Scientists unearth 70,000 year old flatbread unlocking secrets to historical diets

“It seems the Neanderthals smashed or ground then soaked a mix of wild grains and grasses, wild pulses – including wild lentils, wild pistachios and, at times, wild grass seeds and grass pea fragments, then cooked the resulting mix on hot stones.”

He said the Neanderthals did not remove the seed coats from the grass peas – a task that is easy to do. According to Prof Hunt, this suggests Neanderthal cooks were thinking of flavours while preparing food.

“This is undoubtedly the first evidence of Neanderthals eating bread. We have known they ate wild pulses and wild grains and nuts because these are found as charred remains occasionally in Neanderthal fireplaces.

“We have not had evidence of Neanderthals flavouring their food before – although, because they roasted meat on their fires, they must have realised that this improved the flavour,” he told PA.

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Article source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1699998/Archaeology-news-worlds-oldest-flatbread-Iraq