An archaeological dig in Metsamor, Armenia, has recently uncovered what appears to be a bakery. The most astonishing thing about this discovery is that the bakery still has several sacks worth of flour buried in the soil around it.

Metsamor, as an archaeological site, is one of the most famous in Armenia, being the site where a ‘golden tomb’ containing two skeletons was previously found.

Recent excavations have uncovered the structure of a building that is believed to be 3,000 years old, recognisable as a bakery due to the amount of flour and the presence of several furnaces.

“It is one of the oldest known structures of this type from the southern Caucasus and eastern Anatolia. Its remains have been preserved so well only thanks to an ancient fire,” said Professor Krzysztof Jakubiak from the Faculty of Archaeology at the University of Warsaw.

“The flour remained in the form of bright spots,” Krzysztof said.

“At first glance, it appeared to be light ash. During the flotation, however, we proved that it was flour, not ash.”

The researchers estimated that 3.5 tonnes of flour, predominantly wheat flour, were originally stored in the building. Over the course of centuries, this deteriorated to the few bags that were uncovered.