An analysis of fatty residue in pottery from two Neolithic archaeological sites in Croatia has revealed evidence of fermented dairy products (soft cheeses and yogurts) from approximately 7,200 years ago.
A suite of Middle Neolithic pottery including a typical Danilo ware, figulina, and rhyton. Image credit: Muzej Grada Šibenika.
Access to milk and cheese has been linked to the spread of agriculture across Europe starting around 9,000 years ago.
But evidence for cheese production in the Mediterranean has, until now, dated back only as far the beginning of the Bronze Age, around 5,000 years ago.
In a new study, Pennsylvania State University anthropologist Sarah McClure and co-authors analyzed stable carbon isotopes of fatty acids preserved on potsherds from two Neolithic villages — Pokrovnik and Danilo Bitinj — on the Dalmatian coast east of the Adriatic Sea and found direct evidence for much earlier production of cheese.
These villages were occupied between 6000 and 4800 BC and preserve several types of pottery across that age range.
The team’s analysis found evidence of milk, along with meat and fish, throughout this period and evidence of cheese starting around 5200 BC.
The residents of Pokrovnik and Danilo Bitinj appear to have used specific pottery types for the production of different foods, with cheese residue being most common on rhyta and sieves.
These data indicate that cheese was established in the Mediterranean by 7,200 years ago when fermented dairy products, being easily storable and relatively low in lactose content, would have been an important source of nutrition for all ages in early farming populations.
Examples of pottery types from the Dalmatian Neolithic: (a) impresso ware; (b) figulina; (c) Danilo fine ware; (d) rhyton; (e) fragment of a sieve. Image credit: Muzej Grada Šibenika.
“This pushes back cheese-making by 4,000 years,” Dr. McClure said.
“The presence of milk in pottery in this area is seen as early as 7,700 years ago, 500 years earlier than fermented products.”
“DNA analysis of the populations in this area indicates that the adults were lactose-intolerant, but the children remained able to consume milk comfortably up to the age of 10.”
The researchers suggest that cheese production and associated ceramic technology were key factors aiding the expansion of early farmers into northern and central Europe.
This study presents the first evidence of cheese production through identified stages of dairy fermentation in functionally specific vessels in the Mediterranean region over 7,000 years ago.
“We suggest that milk and cheese production among Europe’s early farmers reduced infant mortality and helped stimulate demographic shifts that propelled farming communities to expand to northern latitudes.”
The findings appear in the journal PLoS ONE.
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S.B. McClure et al. 2018. Fatty acid specific δ13C values reveal earliest Mediterranean cheese production 7,200 years ago. PLoS ONE 13 (9): e0202807; doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0202807
Source link: https://www.sci.news/archaeology/earliest-mediterranean-cheese-production-06386.html
