The Origins of Lactase Persistence in Europe

[Rochefaton]

And what about females?

I'm not suggesting that only people with R1b haplotypes (males) possess or spread the LP SNP. Genetic drift and natural selection will certainly allow the LP SNP to carry over to other people, regardless of their gender, mtDNA, or Y-DNA haplotypes.

Once again, I'm saying that the LP gene common in Europe made it's way to Africa with an R1b carrying population. It is anyone's guess as to what mtDNA haplogroups the immigrants possessed, but since you can link the spread of the European LP SNP to R1b carriers in Africa (regardless of what mtDNA haplogroups the original LP persistent immigrating men and women carried), the same may be possible in Europe.

[Bjólf]

I don't think it is linked to any particular haplogroup.

I like the calcium assimilation hypothesis, because IMO it do seem to correlate better with high latitude in Europe rather than any particular haplogroup/ethnic group/culture or whatever. This would suggest that lactase presistence didn't prevail in northern Europe out of people relying mostly on lactase products (there is no evidence for this, and lactase products have been around since the early Neolithic), but rather that it had other advantages besides a good additional nutrition.

[Rochefaton]

Bjolf, I have never actually heard an explanation of the theory you stated, but the study that this thread is based on goes against the ‘reverse-cause’ theory, and suggests that LP persistence became common due to, and after, dairy farming in Europe.

"Estimates of the age of the −13,910*T correspond well with estimates of the onset of dairying in Europe. Slaughtering age profiles in sheep, goats and cattle suggest dairying was present in south-eastern Europe at the onset of the Neolithic [21],[22], while residual milk proteins preserved in ceramic vessels provide evidence for dairying in present day Romania and Hungary 7,900–7,450 years BP [23]. Furthermore, residual analyses of fats indicate dairying at the onset of the Neolithic in England, some 6,100 years BP [24],[25], and after to 8,500 BP in the western parts of present day Turkey [26]. Allelic age estimates are also consistent with the results of a recent ancient DNA study [27] which showed that the −13,910*T allele was rare or absent among early farmers from Central and Eastern Europe. These observations lend support to the view that −13,910*T, and thus LP, rose rapidly in frequency only after the onset of dairying, as opposed to the ‘reverse-cause’ hypothesis [14], [17]–[19], whereby dairying developed in response to the evolution of LP."

I also agree that it may not be possible to trace the origin of the European LP SNP to a single haplogroup. It is possible to trace the origin of the European LP SNP in Africa to R1b carriers, however. As the study I posted earlier does.

[Thulsa Doom]

Seems to be a lot of talk about cattle herding. I can´t recall any traditional pastoral groups in Europe, and in northern Europe it´s certainly not possible at all due to the need of winter forage. Most likely cattle breeding was connected to and spread by farmers.

A south-central European origin of lactase persistence is possible but it doesn't explain this correlation.


And the oldest (3500 BC) finding of the gene (to my knowledge) is also in Northern Europe.
Link in Swedish http://www.svd.se/nyheter/vetenskap/artikel_790557.svd

[Jamt]

Prior to the Scandinavian Middle-Age the agriculture was much more pastoral than after. It is seen in that the length of people in the north started to decrease a thousand years ago and a worsening in dental health, which are contributed to a more grain based diet. It is also seen in the new land clamed for fields and an explosion of new agriculture techniques that had long been used in continental Europe like better angle on the scythe, better hoes and sickles, water mills, drainage of fields, wood floors for better threshing. And the shift is seen in a great increase in population after the Viking-Age.

This is interpreted as a shift from a more pastoral to grain based agriculture. Some archeologist calls this an agricultural revolution. And of course a more pastoral agriculture connected to the farm is possible in Scandinavia. It’s perfect for it. You simply herd animals in summer, harvest hay and save it for winter in the hayloft, and you eat a larger proportion of the animals in winter. That is what we have always done in the North. So Scandinavians were more pastoral and that is the origin of high lactase persistence.

The milk drinking pastoral Scandinavians might have come from Central Europe ca 6000 years ago though.

[Brännvin]

The milk drinking pastoral Scandinavians might have come from Central Europe ca 6000 years ago though.

I also think then..

Check this study;

Migration in Prehistory : DNA and stable isotope analyses of Swedish skeletal material

Ancient DNA analysis is employed in three cases. The first is an investigation of the genetic profiles of the two main cultural groups, which existed in Sweden during the Neolithic, the Funnel Beaker (TRB) and Pitted Ware (PWC) cultures. We can deduce from these genetic data that they were two separate populations, and can see that the TRB genetic profiles continue into the Bronze Age whereas the PWC profiles seem to disappear. In a second analysis based on the same material we explore the ability of adults to digest milk, i.e. lactose tolerance, a genetic trait found in high frequencies in northern Europe. We can see that the TRB population had a higher frequency of this allele than the PWC population.

[Brännvin]

A south-central European origin of lactase persistence is possible but it doesn't explain this correlation.

The study actually says central European origin though..

[Óttar]

It is a crime that raw milk is so hard to come by!

Interestingly enough, even though the Mongols drink mares' milk, fermented (koumis) and non, I remember reading they have the highest rate of lactose intolerance.

I think there is a correlation between acid reflux and consuming too much dairy product, based on personal experience. Why is this? Lactose intolerance?

[Gwynyvyr]

Hmmm...I have known a lot of folks that became lactose intolerant after age 25 or so.
I am 53 and have never had a problem with milk or any dairy products...and I drink a LOT of milk.
Of course, I had loads of raw cows milk during childhood and have continued to drink raw milk in adulthood.

[Wölfin]

It is a crime that raw milk is so hard to come by!

Interestingly enough, even though the Mongols drink mares' milk, fermented (koumis) and non, I remember reading they have the highest rate of lactose intolerance.

I think there is a correlation between acid reflux and consuming too much dairy product, based on personal experience. Why is this? Lactose intolerance?

Mare milk, is actually quite different from Cow milk. For one thing it is a lot less fat and it is much richer in vitamins, minerals etc. I think it is probably a lot more tolerable for humans, and from what I've read, studies say over all it is a lot more healthy for us two-legged creatures