Journal
ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 11, Issue 11, Pages 6183-6196Publisher
SPRINGER HEIDELBERG
DOI: 10.1007/s12520-019-00911-7
Keywords
Dairying; beta-lactoglobulin; Dental calculus; Neolithic; Britain
Funding
- UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) [NE/K500987/1]
- Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) [AH/N005015/1]
- AHRC [1802124] Funding Source: UKRI
- NERC [NE/K500987/1] Funding Source: UKRI
Ask authors/readers for more resources
There has long been debate over the origins of dairy consumption within European populations. Whilst it was previously assumed that lactase persistence (LP) was under positive selection following the advent of agriculture, recent genetic studies of prehistoric human remains have revealed LP may have only emerged in Europe in the last 4000 years. These findings stand in contrast to organic residue analysis of Neolithic pottery indicating the utilisation of dairy products, and zooarchaeological mortality profiles consistent with dairying herds at Neolithic sites. The recent discovery of the milk protein beta-lactoglobulin (BLG) within human dental calculus presents a new method via which to explore dairy product consumption in the archaeological past. Here, we apply shotgun proteomic analysis to dental calculus samples from three British Neolithic sites, revealing the earliest identification of BLG in human dental calculus to date. The presence of BLG peptides in individuals who are unlikely to possess LP provides new insight into dairying in the British Neolithic, suggesting the potential processing of milk by Neolithic populations to reduce the lactose content of dairy products.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available