Human paleofeces suggests prehistoric salt miners drank beer and ate blue cheese | HeritageDaily

A study of paleofeces in prehistoric salt mines in Austria suggests that miners drank beer and ate blue cheese 2,700 years ago.

Researchers studied ancient fecal samples from the prehistoric salt mines in the Austrian UNESCO World Heritage area of Hallstatt-Dachstein/Salzkammergut, in which the team found evidence of two fungal species used in the production of blue cheese and beer.

Frank Maixner of the Eurac Research Institute for Mummy Studies in Bolzano, Italy said: “Genome-wide analysis indicates that both fungi were involved in food fermentation and provide the first molecular…