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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0iScience

Palaeoproteomic and genetic insights into millennial-scale dairy consumption in Armenia

  • Mariya Antonosyan1
  • Anahit Hovhannisyan2
  • Patrick Roberts1
  • Lara M Cassidy2
  • Satenik Mkrtchyan3,1
  • Hasmik Simonyan4,5
  • Arsen Bobokhyan4,6
  • Levon Aghikyan4
  • Ashot Piliposyan5
  • Ruben Badalyan4
  • Nzhdeh Yeranyan4
  • Artak Gnuni7
19 more authors
  • Hayk Avetisyan7
  • Mikayel Badalyan6
  • Armine Gabrielyan4
  • Narineh Sarkisian4
  • Avetis Grigoryan4
  • Hakob Simonyan7,8
  • Meri Safaryan8
  • Benik Vardanyan4
  • Kristine Martirosyan-Olshansky9
  • Iseult Jackson2
  • Emily Breslin2
  • Andranik Gyonjyan10
  • Zaruhi Khachatryan3
  • Jana Ilgner11
  • Levon Yepiskoposyan3
  • Andrea Manica12
  • Daniel G Bradley2
  • Nicole Boivin13,14,15
  • Shevan Wilkin16,17,18
18 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Coevolution of Land Use and Urbanisation, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
  2. 2Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, D02 VF25 Dublin 2, Ireland.
  3. 3Institute of Molecular Biology, NAS Armenia, Yerevan 0014, Armenia.
  4. 4Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan 0025, Armenia.
  5. 5Service for the Protection of Historical Environment and Historical Cultural Museum Reservations, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Yerevan, Armenia.
  6. 6Institute of History, National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan 0019, Armenia.
  7. 7Chair of Archaeology and Ethnography, Yerevan State University, Yerevan 0025, Armenia.
  8. 8Scientific Research Centre of the Historical and Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Yerevan 0010, Armenia.
  9. 9Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
  10. 10Scientific Center of Zoology and Hydroecology, National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan 0014, Armenia.
  11. 11Laboratory Facility, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
  12. 12Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.
  13. 13Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Thuringia, Germany.
  14. 14School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia.
  15. 15Griffith Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia.
  16. 16Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland.
  17. 17Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
  18. 18Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia.
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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.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{antonosyan2026palaeoproteomic,
  title = {{Palaeoproteomic and genetic insights into millennial-scale dairy consumption in Armenia}},
  author = {Mariya Antonosyan and Anahit Hovhannisyan and Patrick Roberts and Lara M Cassidy and Satenik Mkrtchyan and Hasmik Simonyan and Arsen Bobokhyan and Levon Aghikyan and Ashot Piliposyan and Ruben Badalyan and Nzhdeh Yeranyan and Artak Gnuni and Hayk Avetisyan and Mikayel Badalyan and Armine Gabrielyan and Narineh Sarkisian and Avetis Grigoryan and Hakob Simonyan and Meri Safaryan and Benik Vardanyan and Kristine Martirosyan-Olshansky and Iseult Jackson and Emily Breslin and Andranik Gyonjyan and Zaruhi Khachatryan and Jana Ilgner and Levon Yepiskoposyan and Andrea Manica and Daniel G Bradley and Nicole Boivin and Shevan Wilkin},
  journal = {iScience},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.117829},
  url = {https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)03210-4},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Palaeoproteomic and genetic insights into millennial-scale dairy consumption in Armenia
AU  - Mariya Antonosyan
AU  - Anahit Hovhannisyan
AU  - Patrick Roberts
AU  - Lara M Cassidy
AU  - Satenik Mkrtchyan
AU  - Hasmik Simonyan
AU  - Arsen Bobokhyan
AU  - Levon Aghikyan
AU  - Ashot Piliposyan
AU  - Ruben Badalyan
AU  - Nzhdeh Yeranyan
AU  - Artak Gnuni
AU  - Hayk Avetisyan
AU  - Mikayel Badalyan
AU  - Armine Gabrielyan
AU  - Narineh Sarkisian
AU  - Avetis Grigoryan
AU  - Hakob Simonyan
AU  - Meri Safaryan
AU  - Benik Vardanyan
AU  - Kristine Martirosyan-Olshansky
AU  - Iseult Jackson
AU  - Emily Breslin
AU  - Andranik Gyonjyan
AU  - Zaruhi Khachatryan
AU  - Jana Ilgner
AU  - Levon Yepiskoposyan
AU  - Andrea Manica
AU  - Daniel G Bradley
AU  - Nicole Boivin
AU  - Shevan Wilkin
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/09
JO  - iScience
DO  - 10.1016/j.isci.2026.117829
UR  - https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(26)03210-4
AB  - 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.
SN  - 2589-0042
ER  -