In European and many African, Middle Eastern and southern Asian populations, lactase persistence (LP) is the most strongly selected monogenic trait to have evolved over the past 10,000 years1. Although the selection of LP and the consumption of prehistoric milk must be linked, considerable uncertainty remains concerning their spatiotemporal configuration and specific interactions2,3. Here we provide detailed distributions of milk exploitation across Europe over the past 9,000 years using around 7,000 pottery fat residues from more than 550 archaeological sites. European milk use was widespread from the Neolithic period onwards but varied spatially and temporally in intensity. Notably, LP selection varying with levels of prehistoric milk exploitation is no better at explaining LP allele frequency trajectories than uniform selection since the Neolithic period. In the UK Biobank4,5 cohort of 500,000 contemporary Europeans, LP genotype was only weakly associated with milk consumption and did not show consistent associations with improved fitness or health indicators. This suggests that other reasons for the beneficial effects of LP should be considered for its rapid frequency increase. We propose that lactase non-persistent individuals consumed milk when it became available but, under conditions of famine and/or increased pathogen exposure, this was disadvantageous, driving LP selection in prehistoric Europe. Comparison of model likelihoods indicates that population fluctuations, settlement density and wild animal exploitation-proxies for these drivers-provide better explanations of LP selection than the extent of milk exploitation. These findings offer new perspectives on prehistoric milk exploitation and LP evolution.

• MeSH
• archeologie * MeSH
• banky biologického materiálu MeSH
• dějiny starověku MeSH
• divoká zvířata MeSH
• frekvence genu MeSH
• genotyp MeSH
• hladomor statistika a číselné údaje   MeSH
• keramika dějiny   MeSH
• kohortové studie MeSH
• laktasa * genetika   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mlékárenství * dějiny   MeSH
• mléko * metabolismus   MeSH
• nemoc * MeSH
• populační genetika * MeSH
• selekce (genetika) * MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• dějiny starověku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• historické články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Evropa epidemiologie   etnologie   MeSH
• Spojené království MeSH
• Názvy látek
• laktasa * MeSH

In this study, a soil from two ceramic vessels belonging to Corded Ware culture, 2707⁻2571 B.C., found in a cremation grave discovered in Central Moravia, Czech Republic, was analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization⁻mass spectrometry (MALDI⁻MS) combined with advanced statistical treatment (principal component analysis, PCA, and orthogonal projection to latent structures discriminant analysis, OPLS-DA) and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). MALDI⁻MS revealed the presence of triacylglycerols in both vessels. This analytical technique was used for the analysis of the soil content from archaeological ceramic vessels for the first time. Targeted ELISA experiments consequently proved the presence of milk proteins in both ceramic vessels. These results represent the first direct evidence of the use of milk or dairy products in the Eneolithic period in Moravian Corded Ware Culture and help to better understand the diet habits and living conditions of Eneolithic populations in Central Europe.

• Klíčová slova
• Corded Ware culture, Eneolithic period, ceramic vessels, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, laser desorption–ionization, mass spectrometry, milk,
• MeSH
• časové faktory MeSH
• kaseiny analýza   MeSH
• keramika chemie   MeSH
• mléko chemie   MeSH
• pohřeb * MeSH
• půda MeSH
• spektrometrie hmotnostní - ionizace laserem za účasti matrice MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• kaseiny MeSH
• půda MeSH

Cattle dominate archaeozoological assemblages from the north-central Europe between the sixth and fifth millennium BC and are frequently considered as exclusively used for their meat. Dairy products may have played a greater role than previously believed. Selective pressure on the lactase persistence mutation has been modelled to have begun between 6000 and 4000 years ago in central Europe. The discovery of milk lipids in late sixth millennium ceramic sieves in Poland may reflect an isolated regional peculiarity for cheese making or may signify more generalized milk exploitation in north-central Europe during the Early Neolithic. To investigate these issues, we analysed the mortality profiles based on age-at-death analysis of cattle tooth eruption, wear and replacement from 19 archaeological sites of the Linearbandkeramik (LBK) culture (sixth to fifth millennium BC). The results indicate that cattle husbandry was similar across time and space in the LBK culture with a degree of specialization for meat exploitation in some areas. Statistical comparison with reference age-at-death profiles indicate that mixed husbandry (milk and meat) was practised, with mature animals being kept. The analysis provides a unique insight into LBK cattle husbandry and how it evolved in later cultures in central and western Europe. It also opens a new perspective on how and why the Neolithic way of life developed through continental Europe and how dairy products became a part of the human diet.

• Klíčová slova
• Linearbandkeramik, Neolithic, cattle, husbandry practices, milk, mortality profiles,
• MeSH
• archeologie MeSH
• chov zvířat dějiny   MeSH
• dějiny starověku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• maso * MeSH
• mléko * MeSH
• skot MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• dějiny starověku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• skot MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• historické články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Evropa MeSH

Lactase non-persistence (leading to primary lactose intolerance) is a genetically dependent inability to digest lactose in adulthood. As part of the human adaptation to dairying, the human lactase LCT-13910C/T mutation (which propagates adult expression of lactase) developed, spread and participated in the adaptation to dairying. This variant is associated with lactase activity persistence, and its carriers are able to digest lactose. We compared the frequencies of lactase 13910C/T (rs4988235) genotypes in Czechs/Slavs (N = 288) and Czech Gypsies/Roma (N = 300), two ethnically different groups where this polymorphism has not yet been analysed. Allelic frequencies significantly differed between the populations (p < 0.0001). In Czechs/Slavs, the lactase persistence T allele was present in 76% of the individuals, which is in agreement with frequencies among geographically neighbouring populations. In the Czech Gypsy/Roma population, only 27% of the adults were carriers of at least one lactase persistence allele, similar to the Indian population. In agreement with this result, dairy product consumption was reported by 70.5% of Czechs/Slavs and 39.0% of the Czech Gypsy/Roma population. Both in the Czech Gypsy/Roma and in the Czech/Slavs populations, the presence of carriers of the lactase persistence allele was similar in subjects self-reporting the consumption of unfermented/fresh milk, in comparison to the others.

• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

The Bronze Age of Eurasia (around 3000-1000 BC) was a period of major cultural changes. However, there is debate about whether these changes resulted from the circulation of ideas or from human migrations, potentially also facilitating the spread of languages and certain phenotypic traits. We investigated this by using new, improved methods to sequence low-coverage genomes from 101 ancient humans from across Eurasia. We show that the Bronze Age was a highly dynamic period involving large-scale population migrations and replacements, responsible for shaping major parts of present-day demographic structure in both Europe and Asia. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesized spread of Indo-European languages during the Early Bronze Age. We also demonstrate that light skin pigmentation in Europeans was already present at high frequency in the Bronze Age, but not lactose tolerance, indicating a more recent onset of positive selection on lactose tolerance than previously thought.

• MeSH
• archeologie metody   MeSH
• Asijci genetika   MeSH
• běloši genetika   MeSH
• dějiny starověku MeSH
• DNA genetika   izolace a purifikace   MeSH
• frekvence genu genetika   MeSH
• genom lidský genetika   MeSH
• genomika * MeSH
• jazyk (prostředek komunikace) dějiny   MeSH
• jednonukleotidový polymorfismus genetika   MeSH
• kulturní evoluce dějiny   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• migrace lidstva dějiny   MeSH
• nesnášenlivost laktózy genetika   MeSH
• pigmentace kůže genetika   MeSH
• populační genetika MeSH
• zkameněliny * MeSH
• Check Tag
• dějiny starověku MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• historické články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Asie etnologie   MeSH
• Evropa etnologie   MeSH
• Názvy látek
• DNA MeSH