Breaking News English

World's oldest bread recipe found

Bread Recipe - Level 0

Researchers found 24 breadcrumbs from the world's oldest bread. They found them in Jordan. The crumbs are about 14,000 years old. This means that Stone Age people were baking bread. This is 4,000 years earlier than we thought. The people were hunter-gatherers. They lived thousands of years before humans became farmers.

The Stone Age people made flour from wheat and barley. They mixed this with water. After that, they baked it on a hot stone. The bread looked like pitta bread. A researcher said the bread could be why the agricultural revolution started. It was easier to farm the wheat instead of getting it from the wild.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Bread Recipe - Level 1

Researchers found 24 ancient breadcrumbs from the world's oldest bread. They found them on a dig in Jordan. They were burnt, which is how they have survived. The crumbs are about 14,000 years old. This means that Stone Age people who lived from 12,500 to 9,500 B.C. were baking bread. This is 4,000 years earlier than we thought. They were hunter-gatherers. The people lived thousands of years before humans became farmers.

The breadcrumbs were made from barley, wheat and oats. The bread took a long time to make. The ancient people made flour and mixed it with water. After that, they baked it in hot ashes or on a hot stone. The bread looked like flat pitta bread. Another researcher said the bread could be a reason why the agricultural revolution started. Stone Age people understood it was easier to farm the wheat instead of getting it from the wild.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Bread Recipe - Level 2

Slowest

Researchers have found the world's oldest example of bread. The researchers found 24 ancient breadcrumbs on an archaeological dig in Jordan. The breadcrumbs were burnt, which is how they survived for so long. The crumbs come from bread made about 14,000 years old. This means that Stone Age people were baking bread. This is 4,000 years earlier than scientists thought. The people who baked the bread lived in Jordan from 12,500 to 9,500 B.C. They were hunter-gatherers. They lived thousands of years before humans settled down to become farmers.

The breadcrumbs were made from cereals such as barley, wheat and oats. The lead researcher said the bread took a long time to make. The ancient people ground the cereals into flour and mixed it with water to make dough. After that, they baked it in hot ashes or on a hot stone. The bread looked like the flat pitta bread made across the Middle East. Another researcher said the bread could be one reason why the agricultural revolution started. Stone Age people understood it was easier to farm the wheat for bread instead of collecting it from the wild.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

11 online activities    |    8-page printable   (PDF)

Bread Recipe - Level 3

Researchers have found the world's oldest example of bread. A research team from the universities of Cambridge, Copenhagen and London found ancient breadcrumbs while on an archaeological dig in Jordan. The breadcrumbs were charred and burnt, which is how they survived for so long. The researchers dated the crumbs and found they were roughly 14,400 years old. This means that people in the Stone Age were baking bread. The researchers said humans were making bread 4,000 years earlier than scientists thought. The people who baked the bread lived in Jordan from around 12,500 to 9,500 B.C. They were hunter gather and lived thousands of years before humans settled down to become farmers.

The researchers discovered 24 burnt breadcrumbs. They analyzed them and found they were made from cereal plants such as barley, wheat and oats. Lead researcher, Dr Amaia Otaegui, said the bread took a long time to make. The ancient Jordanians began by grinding cereals into a fine flour. They then mixed the flour with water to make dough. After that, they baked it in the hot ashes of a fireplace or on a hot stone. The bread looked like the flat pitta bread still made across the Middle East today. Another researcher said the bread could be one reason for the agricultural revolution starting. Stone Age people realized it was easier and more convenient to farm the wheat for bread instead of gathering it from the wild.

SPEED READING

Speed 1    |     Speed 2    |     Speed 3

MORE

25 online activities    |    27-page printable    |    2-page mini-lesson