Even the most high-brow aged cheese have nothing on this: researchers have found the world's oldest cheese buried in the tombs of Chinese mummies.

Researchers who made the discovery say that the cheese dates back to 1615 BC, reports USA Today . It was found in the tombs at Small River Cemetery Number 5, located in northwest China, which was first discovered by Swedish archaeologists in the 1930s. The mummies were found laid to rest in large boats, and then wrapped tightly in cowhide. Researchers were puzzled to find that many of the mummies had clumps draped on their necks and chests. After testing, the clumps were found to be mummified cheese. It is still unknown as to why the bodies were buried with food. Chemist Andrej Shevchenko from Germany's Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics says that the method used to make the cheese was "easy, cheap … It's a technology for the common people." The cheese (and the mummies) were prevented from decaying thanks to the dry air of the desert and high salt levels in the soil, combined with the "vacuum-packed" effect of wrapping the burial boats in cowhide.
Cheese-making was not uncommon in the ancient world, reports Discovery . Cheese was made in Europe in the 6th millennium B.C. and was commonplace in Egypt and Mesopotamia in 3rd millennium B.C., but no remains of cheese had been found before now due to cheese's quick decomposition rate.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons