Archaeologists Find Cheese Clinging to 3,600-Year-Old Chinese Mummies

By Alan Boyle



The mummies from China's Taklamakan Desert are thought to be up to 4,000 years old.

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Researchers have identified clumps of well-aged cheese tucked around the necks and chests of Chinese mummies that are up to 3,600 years old. So is this the world's oldest cheese? That depends on what your definition of "cheese" is.

Archaeologists in China collected samples of yellowish material from 10 tombs and mummies at Small River Cemetery No. 5 in northwestern China's Taklamakan Desert. The dry desert conditions contributed to the preservation of the mummies — as well as the textiles and gunky stuff that was packed around them.

Chemists in Germany analyzed the proteins in the clumps and determined that the yellowish material was a type of kefir cheese. The stuff was probably left with the mummies either as a tribute or as food for the afterlife.

The Taklamakan mummies are already notable because they appear to represent a mysterious non-Asian, Bronze Age culture that made its way to China thousands of years ago. It's plausible that they brought their cheese-making ways with them.

Read more:

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-n...-mummies-n40631