Archaeologists have uncovered a painting – thought to be at least 2,000 years old – that seems to depict a pizza centuries before the food was ever invented.
Digging in Pompeii, near the foot of Mount Vesuvius, in Italy found a 2000-year-old fresco showing an array of food, including what appears to be a round piece of bread with toppings.
This is despite the fact that key pizza ingredients, like tomatoes and mozzarella, wouldn't be found in Italy for several hundred years.
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Tomatoes were introduced to Europe from the Americas in the 1500s, while mozzarella was first made in nearby Naples in the 1700s.
While many saw this as "proof" of time travel, boffins instead believe the fresco is more likely to be a focaccia draped in fruit such as figs, and finished with spices or a type of pesto.
It's seen served on a silver platter in the fresco, and experts say it's not unlike what we now know as one of the country's most beloved exports.
Pompeii director Gabriel Zuchtriegel says the painting of the ancient "pizza" shows a contrast between the "frugal meal" and the "luxury of silver trays".
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"How can we fail to think, in this regard, of pizza, also born as a 'poor' dish in southern Italy, which has now conquered the world and is also served in starred restaurants?" he said, the Mirror reports.
Today, pizza represents one-third of the food budget of foreign visitors and generates total annual revenues of 15 billion euros ($16.4 billion) in Italy.
The art of the Neapolitan pizzamaker was put on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list in 2017, recognized for its four phases of dough preparation and for being baked exclusively in a wood oven at 485 C.
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The ancient pizza isn't the only time travelling object blowing people's minds.
The Daily Star reports that historians and conspiracy nuts alike were baffled after a 1,500-year-old mummy found in Mongolia was spotting seemingly wearing a pair of Adidas trainers.
Many were quick to notice that they looked like a classic pair of Adidas white trainers with red and black stripes on from the company's snow boarding range of boots.
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