They made their discovery by analysing the skeletons of 56 individuals who lived in what is now southwestern Russia between 46 BC.
Scientists say that while the precise critical advantage milk drinking gave the Russian nomads is still being investigated, it is likely that proteins, nutrients and fluids in milk would have been critical to survival in the harsh and arid steppe. Several thousands years later, a genetic mutation initiated by the Russian herders spread through Europe and gave people the ability to drink milk. New research has revealed that the secret to their success was quite simple: they drank milk.Īnd not only did they consume it, but they also brought the genes for lactose tolerance into Europe.ĭuring the most recent Ice Age, milk was essentially a toxin to adults because - unlike children - they could not produce the enzyme required to break down lactose, the main sugar in milk.īut as farming started to replace hunting and gathering in the Middle East around 11,000 years ago, cattle herders learned to reduce lactose to tolerable levels by fermenting milk to make cheese or yoghurt. Once there, they introduced new technologies such as wheeled wagons and may even have brought the Indo-European family of languages that today include English, Spanish and Hindustani.īut just how and why they travelled such extraordinary distances 5,000 years ago had remained a mystery - until now. Some nomads, known as the Yamnaya, went west across Europe to places such as Scandinavia, while others got as far east as Mongolia.
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At the beginning of the Bronze Age, a mass migration of people from the steppes of Russia embarked on a series of journeys that would change history.