ARCHAEOLOGISTS at The University of Devon have made a groundbreaking discovery on Dartmoor that settles the age-old cream tea debate once and for all.

A fossilised cream tea—complete with a perfectly preserved scone, a smear of ancient clotted cream, and a seemingly jammy residue—has been unearthed in a remote tor, providing irrefutable proof that the Devonshire method (cream first, then jam) predates all others by several millennia.

The find, dubbed Sconus Antiquitus, was first identified by leading palaeogastronomist Professor Avril Foulè, who described it as ‘the most exciting culinary discovery since we found a 2,000-year-old pasty crust in a Cornish cave’.

According to the University’s report, the fossil was found embedded in a layer of granite, alongside what appears to be a primitive butter knife made of flint, leading researchers to theorise that early Devonians were enjoying cream teas long before their Cornish neighbours even considered buttering their bread.

Something local dairy Langage Farm has been saying for over 40 years.

Professor Foule added: 'We used cutting-edge carbon dating techniques, and the results are clear—this scone was prepared approximately 5,000 years ago, and crucially, the cream was applied before the jam.

‘This conclusively proves that Devon has the rightful claim to the original cream tea tradition.’

The discovery has sent shockwaves through the archaeological and culinary communities, with the Royal Institute of Pudding Studies calling it ‘one of the most significant food-based finds since Tutankhamun’s honey jar’.

The artefact is now being carefully preserved at the University of Devon, where experts from both the University and Langage Farm are analysing the ancient dairy remains.

Meanwhile, calls have been made for the Devon Cream Tea to be granted UNESCO World Heritage status, much to the dismay of Cornwall’s Jam First Society.