Pippa Corbett answered
No exact date is known for when mankind first started drinking milk, but it's thought that the practice probably started around 9,000 years ago.
Anthropologists point to areas of modern-day Iran and Turkey as the locations where milk was first consumed as a human food source.
Where did drinking milk start?
We may take it for granted that drinking a cool glass of milk is a logical thing to do, but, until just over 9,000 ago, it would have been considered 'bonkers' to drink a glass of cow's milk.
In fact, whilst drinking breast milk is something that comes naturally to all human babies, the idea of people consuming cow milk didn't really take off until the early civilizations of the Euphrates/Tigris delta.
These civilizations would have been the first to herd livestock (for meat), and this is probably where the idea of drinking milk first started.
Who were the first milk-drinkers?
Interestingly, most scientists believe that, until 7,000 years ago, drinking cow milk would have actually made most people sick! According to studies, early man would have been lactose-intolerant (and therefore drinking cows milk would have made him sick).
It was only due to a genetic mutation in humans living in central Europe that milk became digestible - and this has since spread all over the world.
Anthropologists point to areas of modern-day Iran and Turkey as the locations where milk was first consumed as a human food source.
Where did drinking milk start?
We may take it for granted that drinking a cool glass of milk is a logical thing to do, but, until just over 9,000 ago, it would have been considered 'bonkers' to drink a glass of cow's milk.
In fact, whilst drinking breast milk is something that comes naturally to all human babies, the idea of people consuming cow milk didn't really take off until the early civilizations of the Euphrates/Tigris delta.
These civilizations would have been the first to herd livestock (for meat), and this is probably where the idea of drinking milk first started.
Who were the first milk-drinkers?
Interestingly, most scientists believe that, until 7,000 years ago, drinking cow milk would have actually made most people sick! According to studies, early man would have been lactose-intolerant (and therefore drinking cows milk would have made him sick).
It was only due to a genetic mutation in humans living in central Europe that milk became digestible - and this has since spread all over the world.
