Earliest Evidence of Consumption of Milk Found From Teeth of Prehistoric Humans, Leaves Experts Baffled

In 2019, experts found evidence of the earliest direct milk consumption among humans in England. The proof was uncovered in the calcified dental plaque (calculus) peeled from the remains of prehistoric farmers. According to the examination conducted by experts on the plaque, humans have been consuming milk for around 6,000 years. Findings regarding the milk consumption of these prehistoric farmers have been published in the Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.

The team members analyzed the plaque using mass spectrometry and separated the different components present in it. In their examinations, the researchers detected a milk protein called beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) in samples of seven individuals. All these individuals were discovered to be from early to middle Neolithic times.

This is one of the first times such a method has been used to examine human remains, BBC reported. "Proteomic analysis of calculus is a fairly recent technique. There have been a few studies before, but they have generally been on historical archaeological material rather than prehistoric material," said co-author, Dr. Sophy Charlton, from the Department of Archaeology at the University of York.

The team noted that the farmers in whom traces of milk were found had lactose intolerance. Researchers speculated that the farmers processed milk and turned it into fermented products like cheese to reduce its lactose content. 

Neolithic Europeans did not have the ability to digest milk, BBC reported. But over the millenniums many Europeans garnered a genetic mutation which allowed them to consume milk without any difficulties. The particular mutation monitors the activity of the gene responsible for lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose sugar. 

Hence it was no surprise that so many prehistoric farmers exhibited lactose intolerance in the study. Despite not having the ability to digest milk, these individuals were still using the product, according to researchers.

"If you are lactose intolerant and you consume very, very small amounts of milk, then it doesn't make you too ill. You can just about cope with that," Charlton explained, BBC reported.  "The alternative option, which I think is perhaps slightly more plausible, is that they were processing the milk in such a way that it's removing a degree of the lactose. So if you process it into a cheese, or a fermented milk product, or a yogurt, then it does decrease the lactose content so you could more easily digest it," she added.

Charlton cites that the finding aligns with the evidence collected by archeologists from Neolithic times, BBC reported. Researchers in the past have discovered proof of dairy fats inside neolithic pottery uncovered in the U.K. and the rest of Europe.