### ch02p57 mortars made flour-making from wild grain possible > Based on their experiment, the archaeologists reasons that the Natufians at Huzuq Musa could easily have processed enough barley for this to have been the staple food for the hundred or so inhabitants, 12,500 years ago. And it was important that the conical mortars seemed to work so well for de-husking the cereal grains. Barley with husks on could have been made into groats, porridge, or coarse flour. But de-husked barley can be ground into much finer flour – and there really is only one reason for doing that: to make bread. This was about a thousand years before anyone started to grow cereal crops. - [[Tamed by Alice Roberts#ch02p57 mortars made flour-making from wild grain possible|View in Vault]]