Beer and cheese are a combination that is not unusual; in fact, it is quite popular in many countries around the world. However, what is remarkable is that people have been enjoying these two food and drink items for 2,700 years. By analyzing human feces found at the Hallstatt salt mine in the Alps of Austria, researchers discovered that the workers in the salt mine were familiar with these two types of food and drink.
Frank Maixner, a microbiologist at the Eurac Research Institute in Bolzano, Italy, expressed his surprise upon learning that the salt miners of that time were advanced enough to “apply intentional fermentation processes” because “this is very complex; I did not think this would be achievable at that time.”
Beer and cheese are a very popular combination in many parts of the world.
According to researchers, this finding is the earliest evidence of cheese fermentation in Europe to date. While wine has existed and been documented extensively in ancient texts with numerous archaeological findings, the feces of the salt miners contained the first molecular evidence of beer consumption on the continent at that time.
Kerstin Kowarik from the Natural History Museum of Vienna stated: “There is increasing evidence that not only prehistoric culinary skills were complex, but even fermentation techniques played a prominent role in the early culinary history of humankind.”
The town of Hallstatt is a UNESCO World Heritage site that has been producing salt for over 3,000 years. According to Maixner: “This is a special place, located in the Alps, a very remote and isolated community. The miners had to spend all day there, working, eating, and even going to the bathroom in the mine.”
Thanks to the stable temperature of around 8 degrees Celsius and the high salt concentration in the mine, the feces of the miners were very well preserved. Researchers analyzed four fecal samples from different periods: one sample from the Bronze Age, two samples from the Iron Age, and the last from the 18th century. One of these samples, approximately 2,700 years old, was found to contain two types of fungi: Penicillium roqueforti and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Both are known today for their use in food processing. “It seems that the salt miners intentionally used food fermentation technology with microorganisms as we do today.”
Additionally, the study showed that the miners’ diet was very balanced, primarily sourcing protein from grains, fruits, legumes, and meat. “Very balanced and providing all the nutrition they needed.” The main difference from today is that the level of food processing at that time was very low.
