Got Milk? The Dairy Powered Yamnaya Migrations Which Changed History
The Yamnaya migrations shaped a new era in our history across Eurasia
Summer is in full swing in the Northern Hemisphere, and you know what that means?
Ice cream!
Barring sorbets, most ice creams need milk; it's in the name. Milk and dairy products are an integral part of our lives. But when we think about how humans evolved, milk is a recent addition to our diet. Lactose intolerance is not new. We have been lactose-intolerant since we evolved as Homo Sapiens and continued to be so even after the advent of farming and animal domestication. This changed after genetic mutations enabled us to digest milk.
Our ability to break down dairy products and derive nutrition from milk was a game-changer in the evolutionary process.
The Yamnaya, who lived in the Eurasian Steppes over 5,000 years ago, was one such culture that received a significant evolutionary boost thanks to milk. Powered by dairy, the Yamnaya spread from the Pontic Steppes in modern Ukraine and Russia to Britain in the west and Mongolia in the east.
Milk was the supe…
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