Very cool! I guess my first introduction to the idea of "meat without refrigeration" was when we lived in southern Spain when I was a teenager... and there'd be all these hams and sausages hanging up from the rafters at many restaurants and bars. And then I learned that some of these hams (and the super hard salamis) were from free-roaming pigs and often would hang up there for 3-5 years to cure... and this was some of the most amazing and flavorful "hard" ham you could possibly get.