|
#1
●
02-27-2014, 09:28 PM
| ||||||||
 ★The Queen★ Poster Rank:67 Female Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 23,498
Contributions: 120
Mentioned: 95 Post(s) Quoted: 3083 Post(s)
| ||||||||
|
Archaeologists Find Cheese Clinging to 3,600 Year Old Chinese Mummies
BY ALAN BOYLE nbcnews.com February 27, 2014 The mummies from China's Taklamakan Desert are thought to be up to 4,000 years old. 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. The researchers say these are the oldest known specimens of actual cheese, (as opposed to milk or butter), but they're not the earliest evidence of cheese making. Others have reported finding residues of milk fat on 7,500 year old cheese making equipment from Poland. Milk residues also have been found in the remains of 8,000 year old pottery from Turkey's Anatolia region. It's not clear, however, whether those residues came from cheese. The latest results, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, suggest protein analysis could help solve other archaeological mysteries. "Our work opens new perspectives in the analysis of ancient material," Andrej Shevchenko of Germany's Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics told Discovery News. "But, most importantly, it shows the technology behind ancient cheese making." Image: Chinese mummy NBC NEWS I want to know what they used on their eyelashes!  · |
|
#2
●
02-28-2014, 12:06 AM
| ||||||||
 My Rank: FIRST SERGEANT Poster Rank:409 Female Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 2,881
Contributions: 6
Mentioned: 11 Post(s) Quoted: 692 Post(s)
| ||||||||
|
Re: Archaeologists Find Cheese Clinging to 3,600 Year Old Chinese Mummies
When I get neck cheese, I know it's time to shower. Buh dum tss! She does have nice eyelashes. |
|
#3
●
03-01-2014, 01:57 AM
| ||||||||
| ★The Queen★ Poster Rank:67 Female Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 23,498
Contributions: 120
Mentioned: 95 Post(s) Quoted: 3083 Post(s)
| ||||||||
|
Re: Archaeologists Find Cheese Clinging to 3,600 Year Old Chinese Mummies
 And keep that navel clean!  |
|
#4
●
03-01-2014, 03:32 AM
| ||||||||
 My Rank: MAJOR Poster Rank:92 Male Join Date: Aug 2009 Posts: 16,930 Mentioned: 9 Post(s) Quoted: 1885 Post(s)
| ||||||||
|
Re: Archaeologists Find Cheese Clinging to 3,600 Year Old Chinese Mummies
I wonder how bad it tastes and smells.
|
|
#5
●
03-01-2014, 08:17 PM
| ||||||||
 ★ Legacy Member ★ Poster Rank:638 Female Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 1,393
Contributions: 1
Mentioned: 8 Post(s) Quoted: 159 Post(s)
| ||||||||
|
Re: Archaeologists Find Cheese Clinging to 3,600 Year Old Chinese Mummies
Amazing what they find in burial sites. China, land of spices and rice and they find cheese.  |
|
#6
●
03-01-2014, 10:12 PM
| ||||||||
| My Rank: SERGEANT Poster Rank:931 Male Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 787 Mentioned: 1 Post(s) Quoted: 143 Post(s)
| ||||||||
|
Re: Archaeologists Find Cheese Clinging to 3,600 Year Old Chinese Mummies
They also found a few crumpled wrappers with the word "Kraft" on them.
|
|
#7
●
03-02-2014, 03:27 AM
| ||||||||
 My Rank: SERGEANT Poster Rank:1203 male Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 522 Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Quoted: 38 Post(s)
| ||||||||
|
Re: Archaeologists Find Cheese Clinging to 3,600 Year Old Chinese Mummies
awesome.............quick i need a aged shiraz and a plane ticket |
