Ancient ‘food’ may be ancestor of cheese dessert
MUSTAFAKEMALPAŞA dessert made of cheese is highly popular in the eponymous northwestern Turkish town, and a recent discovery may shed some light on its history.
A “foodstuff ” that remained unspoiled due to a resin covering it bears striking similarities to the modern-day cheese dessert. The dessert-like food was found inside a cave a local shepherd came across after a landslide. The cave near the town was also found to be home to crude ancient drawings on its walls as well as primitive kitchen utensils. Archaeologists date the findings, which include intact and broken pots, to 10,000 B.C. The food in question was made of wild wheat, roots of unidentified plants and a substance similar to milk.
The cave’s walls are adorned with drawings showing a “hunt” for animals resembling cows and how to breed them. Local authorities declared the cave a preserved area while more information is expected to be gleaned from the detailed work of archaeologists working at the cave and a place nearby believed to be an ancient settlement.
Mustafakemalpaşa, on the shores of Ulubat Lake of Bursa province, is an agricultural hub. The rural town is also home to hundreds of caves and enormous marble quarries. It already made its name into the world of archaeology with the discovery of what experts described as one of the largest elephant fossils ever found in Turkey, which dated to some 15 million years ago and was named Gamphotherium Pasalarensis after the town’s Paşalar district. Scientists say calcium carbonate and forests rich in resin in the wider region known as the “Gönen Basin” aid in the preservation of materials such as food and fossils for centuries.