HNTHROPOLOGY
Dairy consumption was crucial to the survival of ancient humans in one of the world's most inhospitable environments at least 3,500 years ago, according to new research at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany.
Archaeologists at the Institute used a new toollocate milk proteins in the dental remains of ancient skeletons, and the prevalence of milk consumption on the highland Tibetan Plateau surprised the researchers. Examining 40 individuals across 15 sites on the plateau, they found that all skeletons belonging to milk drinkers had been recovered from locations sitting more than 3,700m above sea level – with the highest dairy consumer found at a dizzying altitude of 4,654m.
