World's Oldest Cheese Found On 3600-Year-Old Chinese Mummies

When the 3,600-year-old coffin of a young woman was unearthed in northwestern China two decades ago, archaeologists uncovered a puzzling substance draped around her neck like jewellery. Remarkably, it turned out to be cheese; researchers now believe it's the oldest known cheese ever discovered, Live Science reported. 

"While regular cheese is soft, this one has dried out, becoming dense, hard, and powdery," said Fu Qiaomei, a paleogeneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, and co-author of a study published Tuesday in Cell. In an interview with NBC News, Fu explained that DNA analysis of the cheese sheds light on the lives of the Xiaohe people- who lived in what is now Xinjiang- but also on the mammals they raised and the evolution of animal husbandry in East Asia.

The Bronze Age coffin was found during the excavation of the Xiaohe Cemetery in 2003. Thanks to the arid climate of the Tarim Basin desert, the woman's coffin was exceptionally well-preserved, as were her boots, hat, and the cheese that had adorned her body, Fu noted.

In ancient burial practices, significant items were often placed alongside the deceased. The discovery of kefir cheese near the woman suggests that cheese played a crucial role in their daily lives. 

Cheese production has been recorded in history for millennia, with murals in ancient Egyptian tombs dating back to 2000 BC, and European cheese-making evidence going back 7,000 years. However, the Tarim Basin cheese samples are the oldest physical examples found to date.

Fu and her team collected samples from three tombs and analyzed the DNA, tracing the evolution of bacteria involved in cheese-making over thousands of years. The cheese was identified as kefir cheese, made from fermenting milk with kefir grains. Evidence of both goat and cow milk was found in the samples. 

The study also highlights how the Xiaohe people, despite being genetically lactose intolerant, consumed dairy before the advent of pasteurization and refrigeration. Cheese production, which reduces lactose levels, allowed them to include dairy in their diet.