A captivating mystery surrounding a white substance found on 3,600-year-old mummies in China has been solved, revealing the world’s oldest cheese. Researchers initially stumbled upon this enigmatic material smeared on several mummies buried at the Xiaohe Cemetery in northwest China’s Tarim Basin about two decades ago. Now, through groundbreaking DNA tests, the mystery goo has been identified as kefir cheese, a probiotic soft cheese made from cow and goat milk thousands of years ago. This astonishing discovery, published in the journal Cell, pushes back the history of cheesemaking by a significant margin.
The ancient cheese contained several bacterial and fungal species, including Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens and Pichia kudriavzevii, both of which are still found in modern-day kefir grains. These grains are known as “symbiotic cultures,” a fascinating mix of bacteria and yeast that work together to ferment milk into cheese, much like a sourdough starter.
“This is the oldest known cheese sample ever discovered in the world,” said study senior author Qiaomei Fu, a paleontologist at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. “Food items like cheese are extremely difficult to preserve over thousands of years, making this a rare and valuable opportunity. Studying the ancient cheese in great detail can help us better understand our ancestors’ diet and culture.”
The research team also discovered that the L. kefiranofaciens grains were closely related to similar ones originating from Tibet. By sequencing the bacterial genes, they were able to trace the evolution of probiotic bacteria over the past 3,600 years. This remarkable insight offers a glimpse into the ancient microbial world and its interaction with human societies.
“Our observation suggests kefir culture has been maintained in Northwestern China’s Xinjiang region since the Bronze Age,” Fu said. “[We can] observe how a bacterium evolved over the past 3,000 years. Moreover, by examining dairy products, we’ve gained a clearer picture of ancient human life and their interactions with the world.”
While the discovery of the world’s oldest cheese is groundbreaking, a lingering question remains: why were these individuals covered with cheese? The purpose behind this unusual practice remains shrouded in mystery, adding another layer of intrigue to this fascinating archaeological find. The ancient mummies, with their cheese-coated remains, continue to tell stories of past civilizations, revealing insights into their diet, culture, and the evolution of food production over millennia.
