The 5,000-year-old bread found in Eskişehir has been reproduced using the same recipe.

21.05.2025 21:51

In the excavation works at Küllüoba in the Seyitgazi district of Eskişehir, bread estimated to be around 5,000 years old has been found. The excavation leader, Prof. Dr. Murat Türkteki, stated, "It is a completely intact specimen, meaning it is the first known example of fermented and baked bread. There is no other example of this." The bread, reproduced using similar products identified in laboratory results, will be sold in markets starting tomorrow.

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The 5,000-year-old "Küllüoba bread" unearthed in the Küllüoba Mound excavation, which has been ongoing in the Seyitgazi district of Eskişehir since 1996, was introduced.

"OUR AIM IS TO SHARE CULTURAL VALUES WITH THE COMMUNITY"

Speaking at the opening program of "International Museums Day" held at the ETI Archaeology Museum, Governor Hüseyin Aksoy stated that Eskişehir has hosted many civilizations in the past and that excavation works continue to share the traces of these civilizations with the community.

Aksoy, who reported that excavation works are ongoing in five archaeological sites in the city, said: "We hold meetings with our excavation heads whenever we have the opportunity to gather information about their work and to evaluate any contributions we can make to the upcoming projects. We have made significant progress in addressing the excavation house issue that two of our excavation heads needed by allocating our old schools for their use, thus providing them with a more comfortable working environment. Our aim is to share cultural values with the community and to elevate it to a point where we can gain economically from cultural tourism."

REPRODUCED

Ayşe Ünlüce, the Mayor of the Metropolitan Municipality, expressed excitement over the discovery of the first example of bread that has been preserved in its cooked and processed form during the Küllüoba excavation. Ünlüce stated that they produced the 5,000-year-old bread found during the excavation using similar products identified in laboratory results and announced that they would offer it for sale in local producer markets starting tomorrow.

"THERE IS NO OTHER EXAMPLE"

Prof. Dr. Murat Türkteki, the head of the Küllüoba excavation and a faculty member of the Archaeology Department at Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University, stated that during the excavations, they dug into the back room of a house buried in the mound. Emphasizing that they encountered a bread that is rarely found in excavations at the threshold of the house, Türkteki continued: "We continued our studies on this bread. It was placed very close to the threshold of the buried house. It is 2.5 centimeters thick and 12.5 centimeters wide. It was found in a tube shape. This is the first example of a form we know, which is leavened and baked. There is no other example of this. This bread was specifically placed here after being baked. The white residues on the back of the bread are what we call 'phytoliths.' Phytoliths are plant residues, actually leaf residues. During the leavening process of the bread, they are sometimes left on the leaves. There are traces of these. We will also study this. We have also conducted other analyses of the bread."

COOKING QUICKLY, ALSO LEAVENING

Türkteki pointed out that they observed very large grain residues of wheat in the bread. He explained that there are microscopic examinations showing that this bread cooked quickly, burned, and also leavened, stating, "From here, we identified the type of wheat. We encountered a type of wheat called 'Gernik wheat,' which still exists but is produced in very small quantities. Gernik wheat makes up almost 90% of the bread. However, it is in large pieces. Of course, the grinding process is a difficult task for this period. It is ground on a basalt stone. Therefore, it appears in quite large pieces."

"IT WAS BURNED AFTER A PIECE WAS BROKEN OFF"

Prof. Dr. Türkteki reported that besides "Gernik wheat," lentils were also found in the bread. He stated that they determined the bread was baked at 150 degrees and above, adding, "We must also say that the bread was burned. If the bread had not been burned, it might not have reached us. It was first baked, then a piece was broken off, which is how we found the bread in its original place. After a piece was broken off, it was burned. It appears to have been buried at the threshold of the house."