Spelt (Triticum spelta) is the hardy hybrid of a domestic wheat and a type of wild goat-grass (Aegilops taschii). First evidence of spelt cultivation is c. 5000 BCE, at the end of the Neolithic and approaching the Chalcolithic or copper age.
READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
See also:
Genetic evidence shows spelt wheat can also result from hybridization of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) and emmer wheat. The much later appearance of spelt in Europe might occur due to a second phase of hybridization between emmer and T. aestivum.
READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
Recent DNA evidence supports an independent origin for European spelt through this hybridization. Spelt spreads to the Balkan Peninsula. Europe gets spelt from interaction with the Near East during the Bronze Age (c. 3300 - 1200 BCE).
See also:
Spelt first appears in Transcaucasia, northeast of the Black Sea. Remnants of spelt are unearthed at Neolithic sites as late as c. 2500 - 1700 BCE in central Europe.
The Neolithic (c. 10,000 - 2200 BCE) can overlap the Bronze Age, as civilizations enter the metal ages at wildly differing times. The Bronze Age in Anatolia arrives c. 3300, while the Nordic Bronze Age begins c. 1700 BCE, after forges in Anatolia are already working steel.
See also:
During the Bronze Age, spelt spreads widely in central Europe. In the Iron Age spelt becomes a primary wheat species in southern Germany and Switzerland. By c. 500 BCE, it's common in the agriculture of south Britain.
In Iron Age Britain, correlations with settlement show an increase of spelt cultivation. Spelt tolerates damp areas of the country with heavy soils. The crop is grown by people moving into these lands.
See also:
Nutrition analysis shows spelt to be high in crucial vitamins and minerals. Like other wheat species it contains gluten.
The nutritional value is per 100 g (3.5 oz) of uncooked spelt. According to health guidelines spelt is rich (over 20% of daily requirement) in protein and fiber. Vitamins and minerals include:
Manganese - 143%
Phosphorus - 57%
Magnesium - 38%
Thiamine or B1 - 35%
Zinc - 35%
Iron - 34%
See also:
Spelt also a good source of Vitamin B6 (18%), potassium (13%) and folate (11%). In the Bronze Age more people are consuming healthier foods through agriculture started in the distant Neolithic.
Spelt is among the species of hulled wheat, or wheat needing to be processed after threshing. This removes the inedible glumes or hulls from the heads. Other hulled wheats are Einkorn, emmer wheat and farro (durum) a type of emmer.
See also:
Also called husks, the hulls protect the grain from weather and the awns or bristles guard against predation by birds. Spelt is adaptable in cold climates and suited to storage.
READ: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
In the Middle Ages, spelt is cultivated in parts of Switzerland, Tyrol, Germany, northern France and the southern Low Countries. By c. 800 CE spelt is a major European crop, and remains so for over a thousand years.
See also:
Spelt is introduced to America in the 1890s. In the 20th century bread wheat or common wheat (Triticum aestivum) replaces almost all spelt crops. Today 95% of wheat in the world is T. aestivum.
Spelt continues to be grown and used for artisan baking. Also known as dinkel wheat, it's the main ingredient of dinkelbrot (dinkel bread) in Germany and Austria. Spelt flour is sold in grocery stores. Unripe spelt grains may be dried and eaten as grünkern ("green grain").
See also:
Bavarians make beer out of spelt, and Belgium brews its own. Recently spelt has moved back into the realm of interest, partly inspired by artisan breads and specialty beer.
See also: