But that doesn't prove anything, does it?

It proves that they could have made bread this way.

It doesn’t necessarily prove that they did.

Although the article presents pretty convincing evidence that they did. (Ceramic formation on the clay trays that matches the temperature and composition of focaccia residue).

So unless they are just making up data for their paper (which is something that definitely happens), it sounds legit to me.

Well, doing experimental history like this at least establishes the bounds. There are limits to how hot you can make an oven given the different fuel sources.

Prove? No. Let's look at the quote we are discussing again

>"These investigations suggested that large loaves made with water and flour might have been baked on these trays, placed in domed ovens for about two hours at an initial temperature of 420°C."

That's why they are using words like "suggested" and "might". When dealing with ancient civilization often all we have leftover are tools that survived. It's not like we have cookbooks from that era. So all we have is guessing what they might have done, based on attempting to solve the same problem with the same tools.