An archaeological study of baking and bread in New Kingdom Egypt
This research applies a multi-disciplinary approach based on the archaeological record, to bread, a staple item of diet in ancient Egypt. Desiccated ancient loaves and artefacts connected with post-storage crop processing at settlement sites are the prime sources of data. They have been interpreted with reference to appropriate ethnographic analogies and to information about starch microstructure and its transformation under different processing techniques. These sources of evidence, together with experimental replication, have established that New Kingdom Egyptians obtained clean grain from emmer spikelets by dampening and pounding the spikelets in limestone mortars with wooden pestles, which shredded the chaff and freed whole grain. The mixture was dried, winnowed and sieved. The whole grain was then milled on a saddle quern, on which any desired grade of flour could be produced. This work has disproved the widely quoted hypothesis that addition of grit was needed to mill flour with the saddle quern. Identification and distribution of cereal processing artefacts have been linked to household self-sufficiency and general transport of cereal commodities. The study of actual ancient loaves has established a
Samuel, Delwen
Archaeology
An archaeological study of baking and bread in New Kingdom Egypt. This research applies a multi-disciplinary approach based on the archaeological record, to bread, a staple item of diet in ancient Egypt. Desiccated ancient loaves and artefacts connected with post-storage crop processing at settlement sites are the prime sources of data. They have been interpreted with reference to appropriate ethnographic analogies and to information about starch microstructure and its transformation under different processing techniques. These sources of evidence, together with experimental replication, have established that New Kingdom Egyptians obtained clean grain from emmer spikelets by dampening and pounding the spikelets in limestone mortars with wooden pestles, which shredded the chaff and freed whole grain. The mixture was dried, winnowed and sieved. The whole grain was then milled on a saddle quern, on which any desired grade of flour could be produced. This work has disproved the widely quoted hypothesis that addition of grit was needed to mill flour with the saddle quern. Identification and distribution of cereal processing artefacts have been linked to household self-sufficiency and general transport of cereal commodities. The study of actual ancient loaves has established a
archaeological_study bread new_kingdom_egypt applies multi_disciplinary base archaeological_record bread staple item diet ancient_egypt ancient artefact connect post storage crop_processing settlement_sit prime source data interpret reference appropriate ethnographic analogy information starch microstructure transformation different processing technique source_evidence together experimental replication establish new_kingdom egyptians obtain clean grain pound limestone mortar wooden chaff free whole grain mixture dry whole grain mill quern desire grade could_produce work disprove widely quote hypothesis addition need mill quern identification distribution cereal processing artefact link household self_sufficiency general transport cereal commodity study actual ancient establish