Abstract
[First paragraph] Deciding whether to farm cattle for
milk or beef was just as complex in
the past as it is today. Compared with
meat production, dairying is a high-input,
high-output, high-risk operation indicative
of an intensive, sophisticated economy, but
this practice is notoriously difficult to
demonstrate in the archaeological record.
Here we provide evidence for the presence
of milk proteins preserved in prehistoric
vessels, which to our knowledge have not
been detected before. This finding resolves
the controversy that has surrounded dairying
on the Scottish Atlantic coast during
the Iron Age and indicates that farming
by the early inhabitants of this harsh, marginal
environment was surprisingly well
developed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 312 |
| Journal | Nature |
| Volume | 408 |
| Issue number | 6810 |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Nov 2000 |