A burnt loaf of bread has turned up in Switzerland, giving archaeologists a rare look at daily life from about 2,000 years ago.
Officials in the Canton of Aargau said the loaf was found during an excavation in Windisch at the site of Vindonissa, a major Roman legionary camp, according to the New York Post.
The dig began in August ahead of a large residential development. Authorities announced the bread find in April after an initial analysis.
According to a translated release from the Canton of Aargau shared by the Post, officials said the bread was first spotted during excavation work as a “charred, round object.”
Archaeologists removed it with the surrounding soil and took it to the Cantonal Archaeology restoration lab.
An archaeobotanist from the University of Basel’s Integrative and Scientific Prehistoric Archaeology then carried out an initial visual examination and determined it was likely a Roman bread loaf.
The piece measured about 10 centimetres in diameter and about 3 centimetres thick.
Further testing is planned in Vienna to identify its ingredients. Officials said that could offer new information about the Roman diet, agriculture, trade and food preparation.
The loaf was one of several finds at the site.
Archaeologists also found traces of an early fortification system, structures, metal tools, blacksmithing debris, spearheads, projectile points and a carefully built clay oven.
Roman bread discoveries are rare because they usually survive only if they have been burned, the Post reported.
The Post said similar finds have been made elsewhere, including in Pompeii, Italy. It also said experts in Turkey recently reported finding a Bronze Age loaf and another burned loaf dating back about 1,200 years.
Swiss officials said this is the country’s first Roman bread.
Roman bread discoveries are “extremely rare,” the Canton of Aargau said in its translated release.
“The discovery of the first Roman bread in Switzerland once again underlines how significant the Vindonissa site is for archaeological science.”
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