Eating dairy may have been ‘widespread’ among ancient Britons as 6,000-year-old teeth reveal earliest evidence of humans consuming milk
- University of York archaeologists found milk protein in 6,000 year-old plaque
- Study’s samples are oldest to be analysed for ancient proteins to date globally
- Britain’s neolithic period ran 4,000-2,400 BC and saw emergence of farming
The earliest direct evidence of milk consumption has been found in the teeth of prehistoric British farmers.
Experts at the University of York made the discovery after identifying a milk protein called beta lactoglobulin in the mineralised dental plaque of seven people who lived in the Neolithic period, roughly 6,000 years-ago.
It’s considered the world’s earliest identification of the milk whey protein, often referred to as BLG, according to scientists behind the study.
The remains tested come from three different Neolithic sites – Hambledon Hill and Hazleton North in the south of England, and Banbury Lane in the East Midlands.
Researchers have found the earliest direct evidence of milk consumption anywhere in the world in the teeth of prehistoric British farmers from the Midlands and the south
WHEN DID PEOPLE START MAKING CHEESE?
During excavations of ancient pottery, researchers found residues of a feta-like cheese on the remains of rhyton drinking horns and sieves dating back to 5300BC.
Access to milk and cheese has been linked to the spread of agriculture across Europe around 9,000 years ago.
The two villages, Pokrovnik and Danilo Bitinj, were occupied between 6000 and 4800BCE and have several types of pottery across that period.
The residents of these villages appear to have used specific pottery types for the production of different foods, with cheese residue being most common on rhyta and sieves.
According to the latest findings, cheese was established in the Mediterranean 7,200 years ago.
Fermented dairy products were easier for Neolithic humans to store and were relatively low in lactose content.
It would have been an important source of nutrition for all ages in early farming populations.
The authors thus suggest that cheese production and associated ceramic technology were key factors aiding the expansion of early farmers into northern and central Europe.
Individuals from all three sites showed the presence of milk proteins from cows, sheep or goats, suggesting people were exploiting multiple species for dairy products.
Dental plaque can offer unique insights into the diets of ancient people because dietary proteins are entrapped within it when it is mineralised by components of saliva to form tartar or ‘dental calculus’, the researchers say.
Lead author of the study, Dr Sophy Charlton, from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York, said: ‘The fact that we found this protein in the dental calculus of individuals from three different Neolithic sites may suggest that dairy consumption was a widespread dietary practice in the past.
‘It would be a fascinating avenue for further research to look at more individuals and see if we can determine whether there are any patterns as to who was consuming milk in the archaeological past – perhaps the amount of dairy products consumed or the animals utilised varied along the lines of sex, gender, age or social standing.’
The discovery of milk proteins is particularly interesting as recent genetic studies suggest that people who lived at this time did not yet have the ability to digest the lactose in milk.
To bypass this, the ancient farmers may have been drinking just small amounts of milk or processing it into other foodstuffs such as cheese.
So-called ‘lactase persistence’, which allows for the continued consumption of milk into adulthood, is the result of a genetic mutation in a section of DNA that controls the activity of the lactase gene.
However, the mechanisms behind how and when we evolved this ability remain a mystery.
Dr Charlton added: ‘Because drinking any more than very small amounts of milk would have made people from this period really quite ill, these early farmers may have been processing milk, perhaps into foodstuffs such as cheese, to reduce its lactose content.
‘Identifying more ancient individuals with evidence of BLG in the future may provide further insights into milk consumption and processing in the past, and increase our understanding of how genetics and culture have interacted to produce lactase persistence.’
The data was published on the University of York website.
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT NEOLITHIC BRITAIN?
The Neolithic Revolution was the world’s first verifiable revolution in agriculture.
It began in Britain between about 5000 BC and 4500 BC but spread across Europe from origins in Syria and Iraq between about 11000 BC and 9000 BC.
The period saw the widespread transition of many disparate human cultures from nomadic hunting and gathering practices to ones of farming and building small settlements.
Stonehenge, the most famous prehistoric structure in Europe, possibly the world, was built by Neolithic people, and later added to during the early Bronze Age
The revolution was responsible for turning small groups of travellers into settled communities who built villages and towns.
Some cultures used irrigation and made forest clearings to better their farming techniques.
Others stored food for times of hunger, and farming eventually created different roles and divisions of labour in societies as well as trading economies.
In the UK, the period was triggered by a huge migration or folk-movement from across the Channel.
The Neolithic Revolution saw humans in Britain move from groups of nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled communities. Some of the earliest monuments in Britain are Neolithic structures, including Silbury Hill in Wiltshire (pictured)
Today, prehistoric monuments in the UK span from the time of the Neolithic farmers to the invasion of the Romans in AD 43.
Many of them are looked after by English Heritage and range from standing stones to massive stone circles, and from burial mounds to hillforts.
Stonehenge, the most famous prehistoric structure in Europe, possibly the world, was built by Neolithic people, and later finished during the Bronze Age.
Neolithic structures were typically used for ceremonies, religious feasts and as centres for trade and social gatherings.
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