Random Oldest Foods Ever Discovered By Archaeologists (12 items)

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  (#12) Honey From An Ancient Egyptian Tomb

  The oldest sample of honey from the Egyptian pyramids is approximately 3,000 years old. Scientists even claim the honey is still edible because of its natural “preservatives,” namely its low water content, acidic properties, and small amounts of hydrogen peroxide – a byproduct of bees’ stomachs. 

  In addition to food, ancient Egyptians used honey as an ingredient in their embalming fluid. 
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  (#2) Bog Butter

  One Irish butter farmer from 3,000 years ago buried his cache of butter in a bog – and then forgot about it. The oldest example of bog butter dates back 5,000 years, and nearly 300 different chunks of bog butter have been dragged from the peat. 

  Many are baffled as to why farmers would throw their butter into a bog. Butter was a valuable commodity – some people even used it to pay taxes. As such, hiding butter in a bog was the ancient equivalent of hiding money in a mattress. Ireland even considers bog butter to be a national treasure.
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  (#7) 4,000-Year-Old Noodles

  Archaeologists found a 4,000-year-old bowl of noodles in China. The long, yellow noodles were preserved inside an overturned bowl buried under 10 feet of dirt. The noodles were likely preserved after an ancient earthquake flooded the Yellow River. The flood interrupted one person's meal, preserving the noodles in a vacuum between the sediment and the bowl.
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  (#11) 7,000-Year-Old Popcorn

  In 2012, archaeologists produced a study that proved that Peruvians were making popcorn as early as 6,700 years ago. Ancient Peruvians likely made popcorn by wrapping a cob and resting it on coals until the kernels popped, roasting the corn directly over flame, or cooking the cob in an oven. 
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  (#8) 5,500-Year-Old Burnt Bread

  The very first farmers in Britain were making bread – and burning it – 5,500 years ago. Archaeologists found the bread, made from barley, in a pit near Oxford. The bread was either tossed into a garbage pit or intended as a religious offering. The hunk of bread looked so much like the hunk of coal pictured here, scientists originally mistook the find for charcoal. Once they put the bread under the microscope, however, ancient grains of barley became visible.
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  (#5) Ancient Chinese Mummy Cheese

  A group of archaeologists uncovered 200 mummies buried in China’s Taklamakan Desert. The mummies are nearly 4,000 years old, and they are still wearing the clothes in which they were buried in upside-down boats. 

  The mummies were also carrying chunks of cheese tied around their necks. The dry and salty soil of the desert preserved the mummies and their ancient cheese for thousands of years.

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