This cheese found in a Bronze Age grave in Xiaohe, northwest China, is somewhat past its prime. The 3,500-year-old cheese nuggets were discovered two decades ago on the necks of three mummies. But researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have only now been able to use the latest scientific methods to examine them further. The samples contained evidence of goat’s and cow’s milk and the end product was identified as a type of early kefir. This is surprising, as the Xiaohe people were genetically lactose intolerant. However, through selective fermentation, they apparently made milk and cheese digestible enough to integrate them into their diet.