Authors
Mariya Antonosyan, Anahit Hovhannisyan, Patrick Roberts, Lara M Cassidy, Satenik Mkrtchyan, Hasmik Simonyan, Arsen Bobokhyan, Levon Aghikyan, Ashot Piliposyan, Ruben Badalyan, Nzhdeh Yeranyan, Artak Gnuni, Hayk Avetisyan, Mikayel Badalyan, Armine Gabrielyan, Narineh Sarkisian, Avetis Grigoryan, Hakob Simonyan, Meri Safaryan, Benik Vardanyan, Kristine Martirosyan-Olshansky, Iseult Jackson, Emily Breslin, Andranik Gyonjyan, Zaruhi Khachatryan, Jana Ilgner, Levon Yepiskoposyan, Andrea Manica, Daniel G Bradley, Nicole Boivin, Shevan Wilkin
Published in
iScience. Volume 29. Issue 11. Pages 117829. Nov 20, 2026. Epub Oct 09, 2026.
Abstract
Dairy products are a key component of diet in Armenia today, yet the origins of milk consumption, its historical development, and genetic adaptations related to milk digestion remain understudied. Here, we investigate the co-evolution of dairying practices and lactase persistence in Armenia through combined palaeoproteomic and genetic analyses spanning prehistory to the present. Our palaeoproteomic results provide direct evidence of milk consumption in prehistoric Armenia and, with existing regional data, indicate that dairying was an established component of the South Caucasus subsistence economy at least from the 4th millennium BCE. Milk proteins were predominantly recovered from high-altitude sites, suggesting that dairy consumption may have served as an adaptive strategy in highland environments. In contrast, genetic findings indicate that lactase persistence-associated variants never reached high frequencies throughout Armenian prehistory. This may reflect cultural adaptation to fermenting dairy products, reducing lactose content and enabling dairy consumption in genetically lactose-intolerant populations.
PMID:
42894849
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 19 Oct 2026.
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