爱尔兰发现千年奶油 专家称仍可食用

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

日前，一名名叫杰克·康纳韦的草坪修剪工人在艾玛拉沼泽地里挖煤的时候有了一大惊人的发现。

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，康纳韦找到了一大块估计是2000年前的、重达22磅（10千克）的奶油。

Oddly enough, such encounters are not unusual.

更古怪的是，这种发现在这里并不少见。

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.

根据发布在爱尔兰考古学杂志上的研究表明，在北爱尔兰和苏格兰已经找到了几百块这样的沼泽奶油，这些奶油都可以追溯到几千年前。

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年的时候，另一个草坪修剪工人在奥法利郡找到了一个巨大的容器，里面装着100磅（45千克）的奶油，据估计已经有5000年历史了。

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

卡文郡博物馆表示，中世纪的时候，奶油是一种奢侈品，可以用来缴税和租赁。

"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.

博物馆在官网上写道：“奶油有时被用作给神灵的贡品，祈求保佑人们及其财务的安全。被用作贡品的奶油会被埋起来，也永远不会再挖出来。”

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

博物馆方面表示，沼泽地的环境条件--低温，酸度高，缺氧--使得其地成为天然冰箱。

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.

考古学家表示，埋在沼泽地里的奶油很脆，质地像蜡，并散发着奶酪的味道。不过，虽然理论上来说沼泽地里的奶油是可以吃的，但是调查人员还是建议人们最好不要吃。