Oatmeal is often considered as the healthier option for breakfast, served hot or cold and apparently, ancient humans also enjoyed their daily intake of fiber around 32,000 years ago.
Scientists have recently discovered an ancient grinding stone frome Grotta Paglicci in Apulia, south of Italy where researchers have analyzed debris from the stone that was actually identified to be oatmeal.
This ancient artifact originates from the Gravettian era which is also considered to be late Paleolithic culture, which is a period known for its tool making. Since the grinding stone was discovered during the 1950s, it was only recently that a team of scientists consisting of Marta Mariotti Lippi and colleagues from the University of Florence in Italy analyzed and examined the remnants on the stone as oat fragments.
The team's findings suggest that that ancient Gravettian people once heated these grains before they grounded them on the stone to prepare the from further processing and to preserve them in the long run. This powder is then made into bread and oatmeal.
Ancient hunter-gatherer communities used to thrive in the Grotta Paglicci in the Apulia region in the past 34,000 to 32,000 years back where this culture has generated many crucial artifacts and tools, including mural paintings involving animals and bone etchings. Lippi says that this stone and this oatmeal debris can provide more clues about prehistoric culture especially the paleolithic diet.
According to archaeologist Matt Pope from the University College London, this prehistoric relationship between diet and experimenting with processing plant food leads to cultural sophistication. Prior studies reveal that ancient humans processed roots of cattails for food and now, scientists reveal a grain that modern man is very familiar with.
This new study is published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.