YEREVAN, ARMENIA—According to a Science in Poland report, a layer of 3,000-year-old flour has been found in Armenia at the fortified site of Metsamor by researchers from the University of Warsaw and Armenia’s Service for the Protection of Historical Environment and Cultural Museums. The residue was found in the remains of a large building made of wooden columns on stone bases with a reed roof. “At first glance, [the flour] looked like lightly burnt ash. With froth flotation, we proved that it was flour, not ash,” said Krzysztof Jakubiak of the University of Warsaw. The structure is thought to have held some 3.5 tons of flour when it burned and collapsed. Furnaces found in the building may have been used to bake bread. “Based on the amount of preserved material, we can conclude that it was mass production,” Jakubiak added. For more on the archaeology of Armenia, go to "Point-and-Shoot Obsidian Analysis."
