{
  "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.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Coevolution of Land Use and Urbanisation, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Thuringia, Germany.",
    "Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, D02 VF25 Dublin 2, Ireland.",
    "Institute of Molecular Biology, NAS Armenia, Yerevan 0014, Armenia.",
    "Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan 0025, Armenia.",
    "Service for the Protection of Historical Environment and Historical Cultural Museum Reservations, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Yerevan, Armenia.",
    "Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan 0019, Armenia.",
    "Chair of Archaeology and Ethnography, Yerevan State University, Yerevan 0025, Armenia.",
    "Scientific Research Centre of the Historical and Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Yerevan 0010, Armenia.",
    "Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.",
    "Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology, National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan 0014, Armenia.",
    "Laboratory Facility, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Thuringia, Germany.",
    "Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.",
    "Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Thuringia, Germany.",
    "School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.",
    "Griffith Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia.",
    "Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland.",
    "Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.",
    "Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia."
  ],
  "article_type": "Article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 31,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mariya Antonosyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Anahit Hovhannisyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Patrick Roberts"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lara M Cassidy"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        0
      ],
      "name": "Satenik Mkrtchyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        4
      ],
      "name": "Hasmik Simonyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Arsen Bobokhyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Levon Aghikyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Ashot Piliposyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Ruben Badalyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Nzhdeh Yeranyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Artak Gnuni"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Hayk Avetisyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Mikayel Badalyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Armine Gabrielyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Narineh Sarkisian"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Avetis Grigoryan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Hakob Simonyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Meri Safaryan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Benik Vardanyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Kristine Martirosyan-Olshansky"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Iseult Jackson",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-6572-8244"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Emily Breslin"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Andranik Gyonjyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Zaruhi Khachatryan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Jana Ilgner"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Levon Yepiskoposyan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Andrea Manica"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Daniel G Bradley"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12,
        13,
        14
      ],
      "name": "Nicole Boivin",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7783-4199"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15,
        16,
        17
      ],
      "name": "Shevan Wilkin"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/11mx3tmctxw01.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.isci.2026.117829",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13677201",
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  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
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  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Anthropology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "archeology"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
      "biological sciences"
    ],
    [
      "heading",
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      "heading",
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      "heading",
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    [
      "openalex",
      "1911|Archaeology and ancient environmental studies"
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  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13677201?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13677201",
  "pmid": "42894849",
  "published": "2026-10-09",
  "publisher": "Elsevier BV",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/11mx3tmctxw01.ris",
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      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:16Z",
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "heading:proteomics",
      "subfield": "proteomics-metabolomics"
    },
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "heading:genomics",
      "subfield": "genetics-genomics"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Palaeoproteomic and genetic insights into millennial-scale dairy consumption in Armenia",
  "title_text": "Palaeoproteomic and genetic insights into millennial-scale dairy consumption in Armenia",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:19:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/11mx3tmctxw01",
  "venue": "iScience",
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}