Archaeologists Discover a Cheese That’s Almost 2,000 Years Older Than Jesus

The oldest cheese in the world has been found, and it puts your Trader Joe’s aged Gouda to shame.

While Gouda can be aged for five years — some cheeses for ten — this one dates back as far as 1615 BC, which makes it older than Jesus Christ.

Buried with ancient mummies in China, the cheese was found on the necks and chests of Bronze Age cheese aficionados.

According to Popular Science, the cheese has essentially been vacuum-packed for centuries in the Taklamakan Desert, where dry air, salty earth and tightly-sealed burial conditions kept it from decaying.

And while the discovery was made in the ’30s, scientists have only just analyzed the proteins and fats in the clumps of the 3,600-year-old food to reveal its age and to be sure that it was not butter or milk.

Scientists say that the cheese was probably lactose-free and was made with a mixture of bacteria and yeast. They also say that the oldest discovered cheese might have tasted something like cottage cheese.

Who’s up for some wine, cheese and crackers party?

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