Tissue-based analysis of a charred flat bread (galette) from a Roman cemetery at Saint-Memmie (Dép. Marne, Champagne-Ardenne, north-eastern France)

During a rescue excavation by the Institut de recherches archéologiques préventives (Inrap) at the Gallo-Roman cemetery of Saint-Memmie (Champagne-Ardenne, France) in 2006, a remarkably well-preserved charred flat bread was unearthed from a pit containing a secondary deposit of burnt objects (feature 109/1110), dating to a time frame between the middle of the 1st century AD and the beginning of the Flavian period (69 AD). As a part of the archaeobotanical research on the charred plant remains from the site, the bread was analyzed with the aim to reveal the cereals used in the bread’s preparation and to investigate the processes involved (grinding, sieving, leavening, baking). The results indicate that the bread is composed of finely ground flour of a mixture of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and either einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.) or emmer (Triticum dicoccon Schrank.), and apparently was prepared without leavening.