The History of Milk

Today, milk does a body good. We ask if you’ve “got it” and we can’t stop talking about the benefits it brings to our bones and body. Milk goes back to 10,000 BC during the agricultural revolution. Prehistoric hunters began capturing and holding animals far before they domesticated them. It was only after humans had settled, and animals began to show up on farms, that we see evidence of humans utilizing those byproducts.

Human breast milk provided an important source of sustenance for infant humans. It would sustain them throughout the first year of life, and it was also used as a health remedy for adults too. The knowledge of breast milk is most likely what led humans to milk cows and other animals first.

There are cave drawings from 5,000 BC in Libya that show ancient people milking their cattle and possibly making cheese. It’s likely that fresh milk didn’t last more than a few hours in the hot sun, but the heat and bacteria in the air may have led to the creation of yogurt and other milk byproducts.

Archaeologists have also uncovered evidence of jugs with small holes in them, which they believe were used to separate curds from whey. Egyptian paintings from the time show a more industrialized process. Cattle are lined up, and villagers milked them through the other side of the fence. Although it’s speculated that the source of that milk was either goats or sheep. It’s likely that cattle would have been worked to the bone, essentially crippling any ability it may have had to produce milk.