Prehistoric dairy farming at the extremes

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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

29-Jul-2014
Contact: Hannah Johnson
hannah.johnson@bristol.ac.uk
University of Bristol

Prehistoric dairy farming at the extremes


Finland's love of milk has been traced back to 2500 BC thanks to high-tech techniques to analyse residues preserved in fragments of ancient pots.

The Finns are the world's biggest milk drinkers today but experts had previously been unable to establish whether prehistoric dairy farming was possible in the harsh environment that far north, where there is snow for up to four months a year.

Research by the Universities of Bristol and Helsinki, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B today (30 July), is the first of its kind to identify that dairying took place at this latitude – 60 degrees north of the equator.

This is equally as far north as Canada's Northwestern territories, Anchorage in Alaska, Southern Greenland and near Yakutsk in Siberia.

Researchers used a series of techniques, not just to analyse the ancient pots, but also to look at modern-day Finnish peoples' ability to digest milk into adulthood.

By comparing the residues found in the walls of cooking pots from two separate eras and cultures, dating to circa 3900 BC to 3300 BC and circa 2500 BC, it was evident that the more recent pottery fragments showed evidence of milk fats.

This coincided with the transition from a culture of hunting and fishing – relying mainly on marine foods - to the arrival of 'Corded Ware' settlements which we now know saw the introduction of animal domestication.

More:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-07/uob-pdf072914.php