Lead author Shevan Wilkin, a paleoproteomics specialist at the University of Zurich, samples dental calculus in the clean lab of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Image credit: Shevan Wilkin, University of Zurich, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Lead author Shevan Wilkin, a paleoproteomics specialist at the University of Zurich, samples dental calculus in the clean lab of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. Image credit: Shevan Wilkin, University of Zurich, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History As archeologists work to understand factors that enabled prehistoric people to expand across the Eurasian steppe during the Bronze Age, they've recently identified one piece of the puzzle: milk. Researchers, including University of Michigan professor Alicia Ventresca Miller , examined human dental plaque from 55 individuals, ranging from the Eneolithic Age, around 4600 to 4000 BC, to the Late Bronze Age, or about 1700 BC. The researchers, led by Shevan Wilkin , a paleoproteomics specialist at the University of Zurich, used a method called proteomic analysis to determine what these individuals ate, including scouring the dental plaque for milk peptides. Their results surprised them. "The pattern was incredibly strong,” Wilkin said. "The majority of pre-Bronze Age Eneolithic individuals we tested-more than 90%-showed absolutely no evidence of consuming dairy.
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