Last week I told you that I find the research suggesting milk may not be good for us very unconvincing. This week we continue the conversation by asking the question When did dairying being? If it began in the Paleolithic era, as I believe, then our genes have been depending on these nutrients for thousands of generations.
Petroglyph of woman milking an ancient cow-like animal. From the "Cave of Swimmers" in what is now the Sahara desert.
The History of Domestication
Various historical writers have tried to sell us on the idea that people were hunter-gatherers for an extended period of time and then BAM! abruptly switched to farming the minute they learned to smelt bronze and make tools that, among other things, enabled them to put their suddenly domesticated animals to work in the fields. I have to say find it unlikely that so many major cultural changes would have taken place simultaneously.
I know, you’re probably thinking Dr Cate, you’re not a historian. Who cares what you think about history? Here’s the thing: The unraveling of history’s big questions requires input from many scientific specialists and, given the fact that there are so many claims made around the health implications of eating meat and dairy products, the history of animal domestication is very much a medically relevant topic.
So back to my point. It’s hard to harness an animal to a plow. You need leatherworkers, metalsmiths, a ton of stored seeds to plant in the fields, places to store the seeds and then to store the food that grows and on and on.
Much easier than all that is (more…)
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