Ancient bread remains unearthed at Seyitömer Mound

KÜTAHYA

The bread remains have survived after being charred in a fire during the Early Bronze Age. (AA Photo)

Rescue excavations at Seyitömer Mound in the northwestern province of Kütahya have unearthed eight 5,000-year-old pieces of bread, offering a rare window into ancient daily life.

The bread remains survived after being charred in a fire during the Early Bronze Age and are now attracting visitors at the Kütahya Archaeology and Mining Museum.

Rescue excavations at the mound, located within the site of a thermal power plant, are being conducted by the Kütahya Museum Directorate under the leadership of archaeologist and museum director Sevgi Gürdal, with sponsorship from Çelikler Holding. The excavations aim to allow the lignite reserves beneath the mound to be put to economic use.

Speaking to state-run Anadolu Agency, Gürdal said excavations were continuing in layers dating to the Early and Middle Bronze Ages.

She said a furnace inside a room and remains of shelves along one of its walls had been identified during excavations last year. Archaeologists subsequently discovered eight charred pieces of bread between the shelf supports, along with remains of wheat and lentils.

The finds have been dated to the first quarter of the Early Bronze Age, approximately 5,000 years ago.

“We found eight charred pieces of bread between the shelf supports in the area where the furnace was located inside the room. We also found remains of wheat and lentils around the bread. This indicates that there was a shelf there before the fire broke out. Agricultural products stored in sacks or bags, as well as bread, were apparently kept on the shelf. When the shelf collapsed during the fire, the contents became mixed together,” Gürdal said.

According to Gürdal, the newly displayed bread, wheat and lentil remains at the Kütahya Archaeology and Mining Museum have sparked intense visitor curiosity over how such organic materials survived for thousands of years.

She noted that the finds were among the most popular exhibits at the museum.

“Artifacts from Seyitömer Mound make up a significant portion of the works displayed in our museums. They provide various insights into the daily and social life, artistic understanding and dietary habits of people of their time,” she said.

Excavations date back to 1989

Seyitömer Mound, whose history dates back to around 3000 B.C., is located 26 kilometers from Kütahya city center, within the operating area of Çelikler Seyitömer Electricity Generation Inc.

The mound originally stood 26 meters high and measured 140 meters in width and 150 meters in length.

Rescue excavations began in 1989 under the Eskişehir Museum Directorate to make use of the lignite reserves beneath the site. Work was subsequently carried out by the Afyonkarahisar Museum Directorate between 1990 and 1995.

Under a protocol signed between the Turkish Coal Enterprises and Kütahya Dumlupınar University, excavations were transferred to the university’s Archaeology Department in 2006. A team of academics, students and workers continued the work until 2014.

More than 17,000 artifacts recovered from the mound have been handed over for exhibition to the Kütahya Museum Directorate, which has been conducting rescue excavations at the site since 2019.