How does dry aged meat not go bad?
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The easiest way to think of it is “controlled rot” … the same way that kimchi, cheese, sauerkraut, and even coffee has “gone bad” in terms of yeast and bacteria developing colonies. The difference is that these are highly controlled conditions where harmful agents can’t develop and the culinarily desirable agents can. The biggest thing is water activity: if you create an environment that isn’t damp (a dry cave, a salty brine, etc) most of the bacteria harmful to humans develop at such a a slow rate you don’t need to worry about them. And there’s a lot of bacteria (lactobacillus being the most famous one) that can grow in these “hostile” environments and produce a lot of stuff that makes food tasty and also helps preserve food
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