Direct evidence of milk consumption from ancient human dental calculus

Jessica Ruth Hendy; Christina Warinner; Matthew James Collins; Camilla Filomena Speller

Direct evidence of milk consumption from ancient human dental calculus

Jessica Ruth Hendy, Christina Warinner, Matthew James Collins, Camilla Filomena Speller

Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to conference › Abstract

Abstract

Humans have exploited animal milk as a food resource for at least 8500 years, but the origins, spread, and scale of prehistoric and historic dairying remain poorly understood. Indirect lines of evidence, such as lipid isotopic ratios of pottery residues, faunal mortality profiles, and LP allele frequencies, imply a complex history of dairying at the level of populations. However, in order to understand how, where, and when humans consumed milk products, it is necessary to link evidence of consumption directly to individuals and their dairy livestock. Here we report the first direct evidence of milk consumption, the whey protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG), preserved in human dental calculus from the Bronze Age (ca. 5000 BP) to the present day. Using protein tandem mass spectrometry, we demonstrate that BLG is a species-specific biomarker of dairy consumption, and we identify individuals consuming cattle, sheep, and goat milk products in the archaeological record.

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - 2015
Event	Society for American Archaeology - , United States Duration: 15 Apr 2015 → …

Conference

Conference	Society for American Archaeology
Country/Territory	United States
Period	15/04/15 → …

Access to Document

http://core.tdar.org/document/397332/direct-evidence-of-milk-consumption-from-ancient-human-dental-calculus

Cite this

@conference{1ec1742790d04300866cb52cabd6fe71,

title = "Direct evidence of milk consumption from ancient human dental calculus",

abstract = "Humans have exploited animal milk as a food resource for at least 8500 years, but the origins, spread, and scale of prehistoric and historic dairying remain poorly understood. Indirect lines of evidence, such as lipid isotopic ratios of pottery residues, faunal mortality profiles, and LP allele frequencies, imply a complex history of dairying at the level of populations. However, in order to understand how, where, and when humans consumed milk products, it is necessary to link evidence of consumption directly to individuals and their dairy livestock. Here we report the first direct evidence of milk consumption, the whey protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG), preserved in human dental calculus from the Bronze Age (ca. 5000 BP) to the present day. Using protein tandem mass spectrometry, we demonstrate that BLG is a species-specific biomarker of dairy consumption, and we identify individuals consuming cattle, sheep, and goat milk products in the archaeological record.",

author = "Hendy, {Jessica Ruth} and Christina Warinner and Collins, {Matthew James} and Speller, {Camilla Filomena}",

year = "2015",

language = "English",

note = "Society for American Archaeology ; Conference date: 15-04-2015",

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TY - CONF

T1 - Direct evidence of milk consumption from ancient human dental calculus

AU - Hendy, Jessica Ruth

AU - Warinner, Christina

AU - Collins, Matthew James

AU - Speller, Camilla Filomena

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

N2 - Humans have exploited animal milk as a food resource for at least 8500 years, but the origins, spread, and scale of prehistoric and historic dairying remain poorly understood. Indirect lines of evidence, such as lipid isotopic ratios of pottery residues, faunal mortality profiles, and LP allele frequencies, imply a complex history of dairying at the level of populations. However, in order to understand how, where, and when humans consumed milk products, it is necessary to link evidence of consumption directly to individuals and their dairy livestock. Here we report the first direct evidence of milk consumption, the whey protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG), preserved in human dental calculus from the Bronze Age (ca. 5000 BP) to the present day. Using protein tandem mass spectrometry, we demonstrate that BLG is a species-specific biomarker of dairy consumption, and we identify individuals consuming cattle, sheep, and goat milk products in the archaeological record.

AB - Humans have exploited animal milk as a food resource for at least 8500 years, but the origins, spread, and scale of prehistoric and historic dairying remain poorly understood. Indirect lines of evidence, such as lipid isotopic ratios of pottery residues, faunal mortality profiles, and LP allele frequencies, imply a complex history of dairying at the level of populations. However, in order to understand how, where, and when humans consumed milk products, it is necessary to link evidence of consumption directly to individuals and their dairy livestock. Here we report the first direct evidence of milk consumption, the whey protein β-lactoglobulin (BLG), preserved in human dental calculus from the Bronze Age (ca. 5000 BP) to the present day. Using protein tandem mass spectrometry, we demonstrate that BLG is a species-specific biomarker of dairy consumption, and we identify individuals consuming cattle, sheep, and goat milk products in the archaeological record.

M3 - Abstract

T2 - Society for American Archaeology

Y2 - 15 April 2015

ER -