Ötzi the Iceman is Europe’s oldest mummy, dating back to 3,300 B.C. Ötzi managed to eat a meal of meat, an herb, and bread made from einkorn wheat sometime shortly before his deatha. The samples that were pulled showed einkorn wheat finely ground, that would have come from einkorn grain ground down to flour and baked into bread.
The story of Ötzi is a topic of interest to me because it is an additional finding to validate that einkorn wheat was a primary grain eaten by most people thousands of years ago. Nutritional Facts & Health Benefits explains how the wheat we eat today is so different from einkorn wheat.
The remainder of this post is unrelated to einkorn but I’ve included more details about Ötzi below since some of you may find them to be of interest. I think his story is fascinating!
More than likely, Ötzi was from a community that grew einkorn. Based on his tools and clothing, it appears he was a hunter or was a wealthy man or ruler who got too far from his home town and was chased down by an enemy.
Whatever the story, he is real proof that einkorn wheat was a staple grain of his time. Continue reading