Oldest evidence of dairying on the East Asian Steppe

Oldest evidence of dairying on the East Asian Steppe

6 years ago
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https://phys.org/news/2018-11-oldest-evidence-dairying-east-asian.html

Cultural and technological transfer without population replacement

Researchers analyzed human remains from six sites in northern Mongolia associated with the Deer Stone-Khirigsuur Complex (DSKC). "The DSKC is well-known for their monumental architecture, including upright stones with deer and other motifs, and large stone mounds, often associated with one or more human burials," explains co-first author Shevan Wilkin of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. "In some locations, these structures are highly conspicuous and visible from great distances." The DSKC is the earliest culture associated archaeologically with pastoralism in Mongolia, with sites containing bones of sheep, goat, cattle and horse as early as the 13th century BC. However, to date no direct observations of dairy consumption had been made in this area.