An Irish Farmer Dug Up A Giant Chunk Of Ancient Butter That Seems To Be From The Bronze Age
While working on his farm in Donegal, Ireland, a farmer named Micheál Boyle happened to dig up an ancient chunk of butter.
The butter has not yet been dated, but experts think it could date as far back as the Bronze Age. The discovery may be one of the largest of its kind on the Emerald Isle.
Boyle had spotted something white in the ground. As he and his team worked to unbury it, they noticed a “salty, cheesy smell” wafting into the air. Soon enough, they found themselves with a giant slab of butter.
The butter was greasy but well-preserved since it was stored in a bog. There was a small piece of wood on the bottom of the butter, which was probably a remnant of the now-decomposed container that ancient people used to hold the butter.
It weighed between 48 and 55 pounds. Usually, chunks of butter are only about the size of a mixing bowl, so this one was especially unique.
In Ireland, the practice of burying butter in bogs dates at least back to the Iron Age. According to some reports, it happened as recently as the 19th century.
Farmers would store butter in bogs for the purpose of preserving it or as an offering to the gods or spirits. Dairy was also considered a sign of wealth.
“The bogs would have acted as a cool place, almost like a refrigerator,” said a local archaeologist named Paula Harvey.
“The butter would have stayed there until it was retrieved by the farmer, or perhaps in this case the local community, and then subsequently was lost for one reason or another.”
Shawn – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Bog butter is a fairly common find in Ireland and Scotland. Around 500 bog butter discoveries have been recorded in Ireland.
The cool, highly acidic, and low-oxygenated environment provided the perfect conditions to preserve butter naturally.
Boyle’s butter is currently being analyzed at the National Museum of Ireland. It is hoped that the butter will later be returned to the local area so the community can appreciate it.
“The slab of butter wouldn’t mean anything to anybody visiting a national institution, but it certainly would mean an awful lot to the local community here in southwest Donegal,” Harvey said.
She added that she had tried a small portion of the dairy product and noted that it tasted like unsalted butter.
In 2016, another Irish farmer found a hunk of butter buried in his local bog. The butter was smaller than Boyle’s but was still of a substantial size.
The buttery lump weighed 22 pounds and was shaped like a rugby ball. It had been stored in the bog for about 2,000 years. The butter was moved to the National Museum of Ireland for conservation.
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