Buzz
During these uncertain times, many are rushing to stock their pantries with non-perishable items to endure extended periods. People are inspecting items past their expiration dates, hoping they remain edible. While staples like rice and sugar seem everlasting, even they eventually spoil.
For the adventurous, archaeologists have uncovered food and beverages that have survived thousands of years beyond their intended shelf life, far exceeding their creators' expectations.
10. Roman Wine
Wine enthusiasts often believe that older wines are more valuable. The Speyer Wine Bottle exemplifies this, as it is the oldest sealed bottle containing liquid, dating back 1,650 years to the Roman era. Discovered in a German tomb, this wine is a priceless artifact. However, age doesn't always enhance flavor – this ancient wine is unlikely to be palatable.
Without uncorking the bottle, researchers have conducted tests on the discolored liquid inside. Their findings suggest that no bacteria have infiltrated the glass container, though the alcohol that once provided the wine's potency has either evaporated or decomposed over time. Alongside wine, the bottle originally contained herbs that flavored the beverage or possibly imbued it with medicinal qualities.
9. Roman Bread
Every baker has, at some point, accidentally left bread in the oven too long, resulting in a crust darker than desired. However, one ancient loaf has turned entirely into charred carbon – a discovery that has thrilled archaeologists.
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius devastated Pompeii and Herculaneum, yet it also preserved these towns remarkably well for future archaeological exploration. Among the artifacts preserved by the intense heat were several Roman loaves of bread, scorched by the volcanic eruption.
In a bakery owned by a man named Modestus, an oven was discovered containing 81 round loaves, likely placed inside just before the catastrophic event. Other loaves found bear the baker's stamp, possibly serving as a mark of quality or a form of advertisement.
8. Bog Butter
Bread is incomplete without a spread of butter. While milk spoils quickly, churning it into butter extends its shelf life significantly. In Ireland, while harvesting peat from bogs, people occasionally stumbled upon strange, waxy masses resembling butter. These discoveries, dating back as far as 5,000 years, turned out to be the oldest butter ever unearthed.
Peat bogs possess unique qualities that aid in preserving organic materials. Human remains extracted from bogs have often been mistaken for modern crime victims. It’s possible that ancient Irish communities stored butter in bogs for preservation or to safeguard it from theft. Over time, these butter stores were forgotten, only to resurface millennia later.
Many bog butter finds are surprisingly large, making their loss seem improbable. One barrel held nearly 80 pounds of butter, while another chunk weighed over 100 pounds. When renowned chef Kevin Thornton sampled ancient bog butter, he unsurprisingly described its flavor as rancid.
7. Chinese Soup
Archaeologists frequently uncover ancient food storage containers, and by analyzing microscopic remnants on their walls, they can determine their original contents. Occasionally, they strike gold when enough residue remains to identify the substance instantly. In 2010, while investigating a tomb dating back to around 400 BC, Chinese researchers opened a bronze vessel to discover a liquid soup still preserved inside.
Over time, the bronze vessel developed a green patina, which seeped into the soup, giving it an unappealing green hue. The soup also contained animal bones, likely used to flavor it. Further analysis revealed the bones were from oxen, suggesting the soup was intended as a savory offering for the deceased to enjoy in the afterlife.
6. Burnt British Bread
British cuisine often faces criticism for being overcooked, boiled, or burnt. While this stereotype isn’t entirely accurate, a 5,500-year-old discovery might hint at its early roots. Archaeologists initially mistook a piece of ancient bread for charcoal due to its extreme charring.
The Neolithic site where the bread was found contained various artifacts in a pit. The bread was only identified under microscopic examination, alongside pottery fragments and a stone knife. Some speculate the pit was a trash dump, while others believe it was a religious site for offerings. If the latter is true, it suggests ancient British deities had a peculiar taste for burnt toast.
5. Primeval Pitta
The British bread discovery pales in comparison to the oldest bread ever found. In Jordan, a flatbread dating back 14,500 years was uncovered in the remnants of a fireplace – roughly 4,000 years before agriculture is believed to have emerged in the area.
Prior to this find, bread was closely linked to crop cultivation. However, the Natufian people who baked this ancient bread used wild barley and oats, along with tubers from dug-up plants. This suggests that bread might have been one of the catalysts for humans to start cultivating their own grains.
Researchers studying this ancient bread experimented with the types of tubers used in its creation. While they succeeded in producing flour, the result was described as coarse and overly salty, highlighting the challenges of replicating ancient recipes.
4. Ancient Honey
Honey is one of the rare foods that, as far as we know, never spoils. Its high sugar content draws out moisture from bacteria or fungi through osmosis, preventing their growth. Additionally, honey contains gluconic acid and traces of hydrogen peroxide, creating an environment hostile to microorganisms. Essentially, honey is a self-preserving food.
Appropriately, honey was often included in Ancient Egyptian burials. While the Egyptians aimed to preserve their bodies for eternity, they also included a food that could last nearly as long. Jars of honey over 3,000 years old were found near the Great Pyramid, and their contents remain edible today. Although these are the oldest known samples, evidence of honey and beeswax usage dates back even further, suggesting even older honey may still await discovery.
3. Egyptian Cheese
Cheese has been described as milk’s attempt at immortality. One batch of Ancient Egyptian cheese might have achieved just that. Discovered in 1885, the tomb of Ptahmes contained numerous artifacts distributed to museums worldwide before the tomb’s location was forgotten. Upon its rediscovery in 2010, archaeologists examined jars left as provisions for the deceased. Among the broken pottery, they found a peculiar white substance wrapped in cloth. Scientific analysis revealed it to be cheese from the 13th century BC.
Made from sheep and goat milk, researchers were less than impressed with its quality. One described it as having an “extremely acidic bite,” while others noted it contained bacteria from unpasteurized milk that could cause Brucellosis, a potentially fatal disease. This cheese might have hastened its consumers’ journey to the afterlife.
2. Roman Egg
The age-old question of whether the chicken or the egg came first might lean toward the egg, based on a recent discovery in England. The sole intact chicken egg from Roman Britain was unearthed at a 3rd-century AD site resembling a wishing well. Visitors would toss offerings into the water as acts of devotion, and thanks to the unique properties of the mud, organic items like these eggs were preserved for centuries.
While fragments of eggs had been found in Roman burial sites before, this discovery included complete eggs stored in a woven basket submerged in water. Archaeologists carefully attempted to retrieve the four eggs, but three shattered, releasing a foul odor. The fourth egg was successfully extracted and remained whole.
The only other intact Roman egg ever found was discovered in Rome itself, cradled in the hands of a young girl during her burial.
1. Chinese Noodles
Noodles are a pantry essential for many, offering a long-lasting emergency meal option. In 2005, archaeologists in China uncovered noodles dating back 4,000 years, though they were likely inedible. Before this find, the earliest record of noodles came from a 2,000-year-old Chinese text.
Crafted from millet seeds, these ancient noodles were found beneath three meters of sediment in an overturned bowl at an archaeological site. The site appeared to have been destroyed by a massive earthquake, leaving the bowl’s contents untouched. The upturned bowl created a protective space, shielding the noodles from debris and preventing oxygen from degrading them over millennia.
Millet seed noodles are still made in some rural areas of China today. While wheat noodles are favored elsewhere for their texture, it remains unclear if they possess the same longevity as these ancient millet-based noodles.
