What is thought to be a ripe 340-year-old cheese has been discovered by scuba divers exploring historic Swedish warship the Kronan.
Underwater archaeologists have been visiting the wreck off Sweden’s south-eastern coast regularly since 1980, recovering some 30,000 artefacts over the years. At 53m long, the 126-gun warship was one of the largest ships of her time, and her loss was regarded as a major setback.
She capsized while manoeuvring in rough weather during the Battle of Öland against Denmark in June, 1676, with the loss of some 800 crew.
During the latest two-week diving operation a number of gold coins and a gold and diamond ring were among the items recovered – along with the unexpected and very pungent foodstuff.
Lars Einarsson of Kalmar County Museum, project manager for the diving operations, told Kvallsposten: “Pressed into the mud, divers found a tin container with a threaded lid.” When the lid was raised, releasing the pressure within, “that’s when we felt the smell”.
Prior to laboratory testing, the contents were thought to be either cheese or butter: “I like cheese, and the character of this one lives on in the odour – a mixture of yeast and Roquefort, a really unpasteurised, aged cheese,” said Einarsson.
There are no plans for a tasting, however: “I wouldn’t recommend it – there are probably a variety of bacteria present.”
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02-Aug-16
