Earliest evidence of cheese-making in the Mediterranean found along Croatian coast
Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of cheese-making in the Mediterranean along Croatia's Dalmatian Coast. Fatty residue left on the insides of ancient pottery suggests the people of the Middle Neolithic were making cheese as early as 7,200 years ago. "This pushes back cheese-making by 4,000 years," Sarah B. McClure, an associate professor of anthropology at Penn State University, said in a news release. As confirmed by the new analysis, the emergence of cheese-making corresponded with a shift in pottery technology. "Cheese production is important enough that people are making new types of kitchenware," said McClure. "We are seeing that cultural shift." During the Early Neolithic, populations along the Dalmatian Coast produced "impressed ware" pottery. But d...