News / North East & Tayside

I can’t believe they’ve found 2500-year-old butter in a loch

Traces of dairy were found preserved inside a wooden butter dish found in Loch Tay.

I can’t believe they’ve found 2500-year-old butter in a loch — Findings: Wooden dish discovered by archaeologists at bottom of Loch Tay. SWNS

STV News

21st Jul 2020

Butter dating back 2500 years has been found at the bottom of a loch in Perth and Kinross.

Traces of dairy matter were found preserved inside a wooden butter dish, made by an Iron Age community.

The wooden dish was discovered by archaeologists at the bottom of Loch Tay, where at least 17 crannogs, or Iron Age wooden houses, once stood.

Built from alder with a lifespan of around 20 years, the structures simply collapsed into the loch once they had served their purpose, taking the objects inside with them.

The crannogs were considered high-status sites which offered good security as well as easy access to trading routes along the Tay and into the North Sea.

Archaeology: The Scottish Crannog Centre, Loch Tay. <strong>SWNS</strong>”/><cite class=cite></cite></div><figcaption aria-hidden=true>Archaeology: The Scottish Crannog Centre, Loch Tay. <strong>SWNS</strong> <cite class=hidden></cite></figcaption></figure><p>Rich Hiden, archaeologist at the Scottish Crannog Centre, said conditions at the bottom of the loch had offered the perfect environment to preserve the butter and the dish.</p><p>He said: “Because of the fantastic anaerobic conditions, where there is very light, oxygen or bacteria to break down anything organic, you get this type of sealed environment.</p><p>“When they started excavating, they pulled out this square wooden dish, well around three quarters of a square wooden dish, which had these really nice chisel marks on the sides as well as this grey stuff.”</p><p>Analysis on the matter found it was dairy material, with experts believing it likely originated from a cow.</p><p>Holes in the bottom of the wooden dish suggest it was used for the buttering process.</p><p>The butter then may have been turned into cheese by adding rennet, which naturally forms in a number of plants, including nettles.</p><p>Mr Hiden added: “This dish is so valuable in many ways.</p><p>“To be honest, we would expect people of this time to be eating dairy.</p><figure class=wp-block-image><div class=relative><img loading=lazy decoding=async src=https://news.stv.tv/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/butterly-amazin-546440-scaled.jpg width=2560 height=1707 srcset=

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