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Italians are known for them and theories suggest they may have originated in the Middle East but scientists said Wednesday the world’s oldest known noodles, dating back 4,000 years, were made in China.
    "Our discovery indicates that noodles were first produced in China about 4,000 years ago," Lu Hou Yuan from the Chinese Academy of Science said in an interview.
    The noodles were preserved in an overturned, sealed bowl in an archaeological site near the Yellow River in northwest China.
    Until the discovery, reported in the science journal Nature, the oldest written account of noodles was in a book written during the East Han dynasty in China sometime between 25 and 220. "This is the earliest evidence of noodles ever found," said Lu.
    The newly unearthed yellow noodles are very thin, delicate and about 50 centimeters in length. The scientists think a large earthquake and catastrophic flooding probably destroyed the ancient settlement where they were discovered.
    Unlike modern Chinese noodles and Italian pasta that are made mostly of wheat, the 400 year old variety consisted of millet, which is originally from China. Wheat was not introduced from central and western Asia to northwest China until about 5,000 years ago.
    Prehistoric farmers knew how to pound and grind the hard millet seeds and mix them to make noodles. The dough was probably repeatedly stretched by hand to form long strands and cooked in boiling water to make noodles, according to the researchers.
    "This study has established, for the first time, that the earliest noodle production occurred in China, "Lu said.