Signs have been found in a salt mine in Austria that beer and mold cheese were consumed up to 2,700 years ago. According to researchers, this is the earliest sign that the mainland has been able to make mold cheese.
Austria Signs have been found in the Hallstatt salt mine in the Alps that people enjoyed both beer and mold cheese up to 2,700 years ago. The news agency AFP reports this.
A study published in the current journal Biology looked at four stool samples. One of the samples is from the Bronze Age, two from the Iron Age and one from the 18th century.
Residues of beans, millet and barley are detectable in this 2600-year-old sample.
From one residues of two fungal organisms were found in the sample, which were Penicillium roqueforti and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Both are still used in food preparation.
“Hallstatt miners appear to have used food fermentation or acidification methods, utilizing the same microorganisms that are still in use,” study leader microbiologist Frank Maixner says AFP.
Maixner says he was surprised at how sophisticated and sophisticated the food preparation methods were.
“I didn’t expect that to be the case during that period.”
At issue is, according to researchers, the earliest sign of cheese production using these methods in Europe.
Indeed, indications of drinking alcohol have been noticeable in the past, including in the form of ancient writings and archaeological evidence.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that prehistoric eating habits and habits weren’t just sophisticated. Processed foods and fermentation techniques have played a significant role in early food history, ”a spokesman for the Vienna Museum of Natural History Kerstin Kowarik said.
From the salt mine the faecal samples found have been preserved remarkably well, as the temperature inside the mine is about 8 degrees. In addition, high salinity has helped preserve the samples.
According to Kowarik, the community in question was “in the middle of nowhere,” so all members of the community lived and worked in the mine, or at least on its terms.
The researchers also analyzed the diets of ancient people, which were just suitable for hard mining and varied. They ate fruit, beans, and meat, among other things.
The biggest differences between eras were noticeable in the amount of food processing: in the Bronze and Iron Ages, miners ate whole grain-based food, which was probably some form of porridge, while in the 18th century grains were ground in the form of perhaps biscuits.
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