Archaeologists have unearthed what they believe to be the world’s oldest cheese. The astonishingly well-preserved cheese was buried beneath China's Taklamakan Desert some 3,600 years ago and affixed to the chests and necks of ancient Chinese mummies—a yummy snack for the dead to nibble on during their journey into the afterlife.
According to Discovery News, the mummies were first discovered in 1934 by a Swedish archaeologist at a 17th-century B.C. burial site known as the Small River Cemetery No. 5, which lies in the barren, dry desert of China’s northwest autonomous region of Xinjiang. But the cemetery’s location was quickly forgotten, and it wasn’t until the early 2000s that a Chinese expedition, aided by GPS, could pinpoint the site’s whereabouts again.
Upon excavation of the Bronze Age cemetery, archaeologists were met with a fascinating sight. They discovered around 200 mummies, still clad in the clothes they were buried in. These mummies were entombed in upside-down boats and covered in cowhide. The graves were also adorned with large, 13-foot-tall wooden poles with flat blades painted black and red. According to the New York Times, these poles are believed to be mostly phallic symbols.
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