Dairy pastoralism sustained eastern Eurasian steppe populations for 5,000 years
METADATA ONLY
Loading...
Author / Creator
Date
2020-03
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
Citations
Altmetric
METADATA ONLY
Data
Rights / License
Abstract
Dairy pastoralism is integral to contemporary and past lifeways on the eastern Eurasian steppe, facilitating survival in agriculturally challenging environments. While previous research has indicated that ruminant dairy pastoralism was practiced in the region by circa 1300 bc, the origin, extent and diversity of this custom remain poorly understood. Here, we analyse ancient proteins from human dental calculus recovered from geographically diverse locations across Mongolia and spanning 5,000 years. We present the earliest evidence for dairy consumption on the eastern Eurasian steppe by circa 3000 bc and the later emergence of horse milking at circa 1200 bc, concurrent with the first evidence for horse riding. We argue that ruminant dairying contributed to the demographic success of Bronze Age Mongolian populations and that the origins of traditional horse dairy products in eastern Eurasia are closely tied to the regional emergence of mounted herding societies during the late second millennium bc.
Permanent link
Publication status
published
External links
Editor
Book title
Journal / series
Volume
4 (3)
Pages / Article No.
346 - 355
Publisher
Nature
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Organisational unit
02207 - Functional Genomics Center Zurich / Functional Genomics Center Zurich