Scientists uncover 3,600-year-old cheese on mummified bodies

Jack Aylmer

WE’VE ALL FOUND OLD FOOD HIDDEN IN THE BACK OF OUR FRIDGE, BUT NOTHING COMPARES TO THIS DISCOVERY..

SCIENTISTS HAVE IDENTIFIED NEARLY 3-THOUSAND-600-YEAR-OLD CHEESE FOUND ON MUMMIFIED BODIES IN NORTHWEST CHINA. 

IT’S BELIEVED TO BE THE OLDEST KNOWN CHEESE IN THE WORLD.

SO THE ALL IMPORTANT QUESTION – WHAT’S IT TASTE LIKE? 

EXPERTS SAY IT WAS LIKELY SOUR, AND SHARP – SIMILAR TO SOME STRONG-SMELLING CHEESES WE KNOW TODAY.

THE MUMMY REMAINS WERE UNCOVERED AT A CEMETERY IN CHINA’S TARIM BASIN DURING THE 1990s. 

WHAT STOOD OUT WAS A WHITE SUBSTANCE SPREAD ACROSS THE NECKS OF SOME OF THE MUMMIES. 

A RECENT STUDY USED DNA ANALYSIS TO CONFIRM THIS WHITE STUFF WAS INDEED AN ANCIENT CHEESE. MADE FROM A MIX OF COW AND GOAT MILK, FERMENTED BACTERIA AND YEAST.

FURTHER TESTS REVEALED THE PRESENCE OF A KEY LACTIC ACID BACTERIA, AN INGREDIENT STILL USED TODAY IN CHEESE PRODUCTION IN PLACES LIKE RUSSIA AND TIBET. 

RESEARCHERS BELIEVE ANCIENT PEOPLE USED THESE KEFIR GRAINS TO EXTEND THE SHELF LIFE OF CHEESE AND HELP COMBAT LACTOSE INTOLERANCE, WHICH WAS MORE COMMON BACK THEN. 

AND BEYOND DIGESTION, THIS ANCIENT BACTERIUM MAY HAVE HELPED TRIGGER IMMUNE RESPONSES IN THE HUMAN GUT.

ALONG WITH THE CHEESE, THE MUMMIFIED BODIES’ SKIN, CLOTHING AND HAIR WERE ABLE TO REMAIN INTACT DUE TO THE DRY CLIMATE OF THE REGION. 

WHILE IT’S STILL UNCLEAR WHY THE CHEESE WAS PLACED IN THE GRAVES, RESEARCHERS SPECULATE IT MAY HAVE BEEN A STARTER CULTURE TO CONTINUE CHEESE-MAKING IN THE AFTERLIFE.

FOR SAN, I’M JACK AYLMER

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