Преобразуйте, если это необходимо, слово NOT MEAN так, чтобы оно грамматически соответствовало содержанию текста.
However, Italian records from a decade earlier indicate that pasta was a favourite dish of the Romans, years before Marco’s return. This __________________ that pasta had been invented in Italy before it became a popular dish in China. The opposite is probably true: at least 3,000 years ago, the Chinese were making pasta out of bean and rice flour. But Italy likely developed the dish without any help from China.