Dairy cattle 7,000 years

The results of the chemical analysis of ceramics helped to determine the first evidence of the habit of raising dairy cattle in Africa about 7000 years ago.

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According to a press release from the University of Bristol (UK), a group of experts here found traces that people know how to raise dairy cattle from thousands of years ago.

The results of the analysis of fatty acids found inside coarse pottery in an archaeological site in Libya have determined that this is a product of milk processing.

Animal drawings appear in many cave art works in Sahara

About 10,000 years ago, the Sahara was more moist and green than it is today, allowing human ancestors to live in a semi-migrant fashion, using pottery, hunting and gathering wild grains in nature.

Later, about 7,000 to 5,000 years ago, the area became more arid, forcing residents to shift to nomadic lifestyles, and cattle played an important role in their lives.

While experts discovered many works of art that recorded images of cattle throughout the Sahara, no direct evidence has been found of the ancient people raising cattle for milk, until when Bristol University published the report.

The finding also provides a new platform for studies of lactose-resistant genes, and it seems that the process has begun to emerge when people switch to animal milk, experts say.

Reference: Livescience