News > 3,600-year-old cheese found in coffin with mummies

3,600-year-old cheese found in coffin with mummies

The original discovery was made in 2003. Researchers have now identified the sample as the oldest cheese ever found. Fu Qiaomei, a paleogeneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, revealed that the cheese had transformed into dry, dense, and hard dust. Fu explained that the woman’s coffin, which was covered and buried in the dry climate of the Tarim Basin desert, was well preserved, as were her boots, hat and the cheese that laced her body.