SC - archeology finds...

[Jeff Heilveil]

Salut!  This is from the November 16 copy of Nature.  This is just the
abstract, you'll have to find a copy of the journal to get the full text
(though if you are at an institution that payed the major cash for an
online subscription, go to:
http://www.nature.com/nlink/v408/n6810/abs/408312A0_fs.html    

Archaeology: Detecting milk proteins in ancient pots

OLIVER CRAIG, JACQUI MULVILLE, MIKE PARKER PEARSON, ROBERT SOKOL,
KEITH GELSTHORPE, REBECCA STACEY & MATTHEW COLLINS

Deciding whether to farm cattle for milk or beef was just as complex in
the past as it is today. Compared with meat production, dairying is a
high-input, high-output, high-risk operation indicative of an intensive,
sophisticated economy, but this practice is notoriously difficult to
demonstrate in the archaeological record. Here we provide evidence for the
presence of milk proteins preserved in prehistoric vessels, which to our
knowledge have not been detected before. This finding resolves the
controversy that has surrounded dairying on the Scottish Atlantic coast
during the Iron Age and indicates that farming by the early inhabitants of
this harsh, marginal environment was surprisingly well developed.
                                                             

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

To fight Honorably, to Love deeply, and to Cook in great volumes.  These
are man's finest virtues.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Jeffrey Heilveil M.S.		      Ld. Bogdan de la Brasov, C.W.
Department of Entomology	A Bear's paw and base vert on field argent
University of Illinois		    	  
heilveil at uiuc.edu			     
office: (217) 244-5115
home: (217) 355-5702		       
ICQ: 34699710 	             
_______________________________________________________________________________