The key facts

  • Eight charred pieces of Early Bronze Age bread found at the Seyitömer mound in Kütahya
  • The excavations are being carried out to extract lignite beneath the mound
  • Remains of wheat and lentils were found alongside the bread

A discovery at the Seyitömer mound

Eight pieces of bread charred in a fire roughly 5,000 years ago have been found during rescue excavations at the Seyitömer mound in the western Turkish province of Kütahya. The Anadolu agency reported citing the head of the excavations. The digs are taking place on the site of a thermal power plant: their purpose is to clear the lignite deposits beneath the mound so they can be brought into the economy. The work is carried out by the Kütahya museum directorate under archaeologist Sevgi Gürdal, who also heads the Kütahya Archaeology and Mining Museum.

What exactly was found

According to Gürdal, excavations are continuing in layers of the Middle and Early Bronze Age. Last season, researchers discovered an oven and the remains of shelves along one of the walls in one of the rooms; the finds date to about 5,000 years ago — the first quarter of the Early Bronze Age. «During the excavations we found eight charred pieces of bread between the shelf supports in the room where the oven stood,» she told the agency. Around the bread, remains of wheat and lentils were also discovered. The find has drawn visitors to the local museum.