Cheese lovers may be pleased to learn that their favorite food is one of the oldest delicacies on the planet, which humans began eating millennia ago.
About 7,200 years ago, to be exact. This is the conclusion scientists came to after studying the remains of ceramic dishes in the villages Poklonik and Danilo Bitinj, which are located on the territory of Croatia. These settlements were founded around the 6th millennium BC. Apparently, their inhabitants were engaged in cattle breeding and the creation of dairy products. Analysis of the pottery shards has shown that some of them were used to store meat and fish, some were used for milk, and some were used to store cheese. The latter is about 7200 years old.
The findings agree with scientists' ideas that agriculture began to spread in Europe about 9,000 years ago. It is noteworthy that traces of fermented products on ceramics belong to a later period than just traces of milk: our distant ancestors needed about 500 years to master the production of cheese. Archaeologists may have been able to discover traces of some of Europe's earliest farmers.
Interestingly, people started drinking wine about 8,000 years ago. Perhaps ancient people decided to find a suitable appetizer for wine and so invented cheese...?
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