The history of pizza begins when different ancient cultures produced flatbread with toppings. Toppings are food added to pizza, like pepperoni, cheese or sausage. Foods similar to pizza have been made since the Neolithic Age. The food that came before pizza was probably focaccia (a flatbread to which toppings were added). The word pizza was first documented in AD 997 in Gaeta, Italy. The word came later in parts of Central and Southern Italy.