Quantcast
ZME Science
  • CoronavirusNEW
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Science Archaeology

Scientists find 2,000-Year-Old Still-Edible Hunk of Bog Butter

‘Theoretically the stuff is still edible - but we wouldn’t say it’s advisable’

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
June 14, 2016
in Archaeology, News
ADVERTISEMENT

‘Theoretically the stuff is still edible – but we wouldn’t say it’s advisable’

Very old butter. (Photo: Cavan County Museum)

A prehistoric 10 kg lump of butter was unearthed by Jack Conway in Ireland. The finding has been given to the National Museum, where it will be preserved. Andy Halpin, assistant keeper in the museum’s Irish Antiquities Division, said that the finding isn’t extremely rare, as ‘bog butter’ was actually quite common back in the day.

Until 2003, scientists and archaeologists were not quite sure of the origin of bog butter, but Bristol researchers discovered that some samples of the “butter” were dairy products, while others were animal fat. Preserving butter and fat was difficult without a fridge, so people often went to strange lengths to preserve it. In Great Britain and Ireland especially, people used to put the products in wooden boxes or animal hides and bury them in peat or bogs, where the temperature was cooler.

Before this, researchers had found bog butter from several centuries ago, often going as far as to the 6th or 7th century AD. But this particular piece is much older, and it wasn’t even encased in wood: it dates from 2 millennia ago. But even so, bog burial is so effective that the product is probably still edible today, though Halpin wouldn’t advise it.

Get more science news like this...

Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

ADVERTISEMENT

‘Theoretically the stuff is still edible – but we wouldn’t say it’s advisable,’ he said

Some researchers have actually recreated bog butter to see what it tastes like. Modern experiments have revealed that the product seems to be an acquired taste, with “flavor notes which were described primarily as ‘animal’ or ‘gamey’, ‘moss’, ‘funky’, ‘pungent’, and ‘salami’. Of course, this is a far cry from the taste of butter we’re used to but hey – after two thousand years, I’d say that’s probably pretty good.

The oldest known bog butter was found in Tullamore, County Offaly, thought to date back about five millennia. It still had a faint smell of dairy.

Tags: archaeologybutterireland
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

Follow ZME on social media

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Coronavirus
  • News
  • Environment
    • Climate
    • Animals
    • Renewable Energy
    • Eco tips
    • Environmental Issues
    • Green Living
  • Health
    • Alternative Medicine
    • Anatomy
    • Diseases
    • Genetics
    • Mind & Brain
    • Nutrition
  • Future
  • Space
  • Feature
    • Feature Post
    • Art
    • Great Pics
    • Design
    • Fossil Friday
    • AstroPicture
    • GeoPicture
    • Did you know?
    • Offbeat
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.