Next time you burn something past the point of it being edible, maybe just hold on to it and bury it in the yard. You could potentially be responsible for archaeologists finding the oldest bran muffin in a few hundred years. A similar story is how German archaeologists can now say they’ve possibly found the oldest pretzel in Europe. According to NBC News on March 12, while digging at a site in Bavaria, Germany, archaeologists have located some 250-year-old pretzel pieces.

Silvia Codreanu-Windauer for the Bavarian State Department of Monument and Sites notes that in her 30 years of work, she had never found anything organic prior to these pretzel pieces. Her group didn’t just walk away with pretzel bits though. While doing excavations in Regensburg last year, they also discovered rolls and dough formed into the shape of our modern croissants.

But how on Earth didn’t they rot? Codreanu-Windauer notes that they were burned during the baking process so they were actually incredibly well preserved. She also notes that the pastries were typical during religious fasting periods. Through carbon dating, researchers were able to determine that the dough dated back to between 1700 and 1800.

The pretzels went on display this week at the Rosenberg Historical Museum. The makeup of the pretzel is almost exactly the same product that’s available in Bavaria’s many beer halls today. Taking into account about 15 percent shrinkage due to the burns and aging, scientists also say it’s about the same size as our pretzels today, though it trends slightly smaller. Now we know that it isn’t diamonds, but baked goods that are forever.