««
Ancient cheese found on remains of mummies in China
Well-preserved mummies in China dating to around 1615 B.C. have been
found adorned with lumps of cheese, the earliest known evidence of the
dairy delicacy, according to a study scheduled to be published in the
Journal of Archaeological Science. "Our work opens new perspectives in
the analysis of ancient material. But most importantly, it shows the
technology behind ancient cheese-making," said analytical chemist Andrej
Shevchenko of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and
Genetics, leader of the study's German team. The cheese lumps were on
the necks and chests of mummies found at the Xiaohe cemetery in
northwestern China. Discovery (2/27)
»»
--
Jim Silverton (Potomac, MD)

Extraneous "not." in Reply To.

"James Silverton" > wrote in message
...
>
> Ancient cheese found on remains of mummies in China
> Well-preserved mummies in China dating to around 1615 B.C. have been found
> adorned with lumps of cheese, the earliest known evidence of the dairy
> delicacy, according to a study scheduled to be published in the Journal of
> Archaeological Science. "Our work opens new perspectives in the analysis
> of ancient material. But most importantly, it shows the technology behind
> ancient cheese-making," said analytical chemist Andrej Shevchenko of the
> Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, leader of the
> study's German team. The cheese lumps were on the necks and chests of
> mummies found at the Xiaohe cemetery in northwestern China. Discovery
> (2/27)
>

so, what IS the "technology behind ancient cheese-making"?

On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 13:51:07 -0500, James Silverton
> wrote:

> ««
> Ancient cheese found on remains of mummies in China
> Well-preserved mummies in China dating to around 1615 B.C. have been
> found adorned with lumps of cheese, the earliest known evidence of the
> dairy delicacy, according to a study scheduled to be published in the
> Journal of Archaeological Science. "Our work opens new perspectives in
> the analysis of ancient material. But most importantly, it shows the
> technology behind ancient cheese-making," said analytical chemist Andrej
> Shevchenko of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and
> Genetics, leader of the study's German team. The cheese lumps were on
> the necks and chests of mummies found at the Xiaohe cemetery in
> northwestern China. Discovery (2/27)
> »»

Those mummies were found in NW China. The area is predominantly
Muslim today - it was on a major trade route (The Silk Road) - so they
could have been traders from elsewhere.


--

Good Food.
Good Friends.
Good Memories.

On Saturday, March 1, 2014 4:51:07 AM UTC+10, James Silverton wrote:
>
> Ancient cheese found on remains of mummies in China

In China, but the people there would be classified as an "ethnic minority" in China. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaohe_Tomb_complex

Milk-drinking (dipping bread in whipped cream, eating dried yoghurt, koumiss) is alive and well in Xinjiang.

On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 13:51:07 -0500, James Silverton
> wrote:

>««
> Ancient cheese found on remains of mummies in China
>Well-preserved mummies in China dating to around 1615 B.C. have been
>found adorned with lumps of cheese, the earliest known evidence of the
>dairy delicacy, according to a study scheduled to be published in the
>Journal of Archaeological Science. "Our work opens new perspectives in
>the analysis of ancient material. But most importantly, it shows the
>technology behind ancient cheese-making," said analytical chemist Andrej
>Shevchenko of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and
>Genetics, leader of the study's German team. The cheese lumps were on
>the necks and chests of mummies found at the Xiaohe cemetery in
>northwestern China. Discovery (2/27)

How does your subject heading relate to the article you quoted?

On Friday, February 28, 2014 3:14:16 PM UTC-6, Sqwertz wrote:
> On Sat, 01 Mar 2014 06:49:08 +1100, Jeßus wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Fri, 28 Feb 2014 13:51:07 -0500, James Silverton
>
> > > wrote:
>
> >
>
> >>««
>
> >> Ancient cheese found on remains of mummies in China
>
> >>Well-preserved mummies in China dating to around 1615 B.C. have been
>
> >>found adorned with lumps of cheese, the earliest known evidence of the
>
> >>dairy delicacy, according to a study scheduled to be published in the
>
> >>Journal of Archaeological Science. "Our work opens new perspectives in
>
> >>the analysis of ancient material. But most importantly, it shows the
>
> >>technology behind ancient cheese-making," said analytical chemist Andrej
>
> >>Shevchenko of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and
>
> >>Genetics, leader of the study's German team. The cheese lumps were on
>
> >>the necks and chests of mummies found at the Xiaohe cemetery in
>
> >>northwestern China. Discovery (2/27)
>
> >
>
> > How does your subject heading relate to the article you quoted?
>
>
>
> The article I read said the cheese was kefir-style cheese, which
>
> contains bacteria that help digest lactose - enabling lactose
>
> intolerant people consume dairy products.
>
If the issue is really lactose intolerance, rather than an allergy to
milk proteins, any hard cheese is so low in lactose that lactose
intolerance doesn't even apply. Even higher residual lactose fermented
milk products like yogurt should be fine if one takes a lactase supplement
like Lactaid. The Wikipedia article cited below incorrectly calls lactose a simple sugar, which is totally incorrect, as lactose is a disaccharide,
composed of two simple sugars, galactose and glucose.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactase
If anyone reading this is an editor of Wikipedia, you could correct this.
>
> That said, I think the OP was still confused.
>
Agreed. It was a bad choice of subject header.
>
> -sw

--B

On Saturday, March 1, 2014 11:14:29 AM UTC+10, jmcquown wrote:
>
> Many people claim no one in China (which is a pretty darn big place)
> eats cheese (or other milk products) due to lactose intolerance.

China including Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Tibet, all dairy-heavy regions, they're just wrong. And the Han Chinese drink milk, eat cheese, etc. Less than the Japanese and Koreans, but far more than "no one".

Though the Central Asians apparently have lactose intolerance rates of 70-80%, so clearly lactose intolerance doesn't stop dairy consumption (especially fermented products, as mention up-thread).

They don't eat cheese because it's a stinky sign of barbarism. Real people eat stinky fermented tofu instead, or stinky fermented eggs.

On Sunday, March 2, 2014 12:47:09 AM UTC+10, Timo wrote:
>
> And the Han Chinese drink milk, eat cheese, etc. Less than the Japanese and Koreans, but far more than "no one".

40 million tons of dairy production per year, plus imports. Per capita, only about 1/6 of US dairy consumption, but far from zero.