愛爾蘭發現千年奶油 專家稱仍可食用

Turf cutter Jack Conaway was cutting peat for fuel in the Emlagh bog when he made a surprising discovery.

日前，一名名叫傑克·康納韋的草坪修剪工人在艾瑪拉沼澤地裏挖煤的時候有了一大驚人的發現。

Buried 12 feet under, Conaway found a massive 22 pound (10 kilogram) chunk of butter estimated to be 2,000 years old.

在地下12英尺的地方，康納韋找到了一大塊估計是2000年前的、重達22磅（10千克）的奶油。

Oddly enough, such encounters are not unusual.

更古怪的是，這種發現在這裏並不少見。

Hundreds of lumps of bog butter have been found in Ireland and Scotland, dating back over thousands of years, according a study published in The Journal of Irish Archaeology.

根據發佈在愛爾蘭考古學雜誌上的研究表明，在北愛爾蘭和蘇格蘭已經找到了幾百塊這樣的沼澤奶油，這些奶油都可以追溯到幾千年前。

In 2013, a fellow turf cutter in County Offaly found a massive container holding 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of bog butter believed to be 5,000 years old.

2013年的時候，另一個草坪修剪工人在奧法利郡找到了一個巨大的容器，裏面裝着100磅（45千克）的奶油，據估計已經有5000年曆史了。

The Cavan County Museum says in medieval times, butter was a luxury product that was used to pay taxes and rents.

卡文郡博物館表示，中世紀的時候，奶油是一種奢侈品，可以用來繳稅和租賃。

"It was sometimes used as an offering to the spirits and gods to keep people and their property safe -- when used as offerings it would have been buried and never dug up again," the museum said on its website.

博物館在官網上寫道：“奶油有時被用作給神靈的貢品，祈求保佑人們及其財務的安全。被用作貢品的奶油會被埋起來，也永遠不會再挖出來。”

Conditions in bogs -- low temperatures, high levels of acidity and minimal oxygen -- make them effective refrigerators, the museum said.

博物館方面表示，沼澤地的環境條件--低溫，酸度高，缺氧--使得其地成爲天然冰箱。

Archaeologists say that bog butter is crumbly, with a waxy texture and overwhelming cheese smell. However, despite bog butter being technically edible, researchers advise against eating it.

考古學家表示，埋在沼澤地裏的奶油很脆，質地像蠟，並散發着奶酪的味道。不過，雖然理論上來說沼澤地裏的奶油是可以吃的，但是調查人員還是建議人們最好不要吃。