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Yak milk consumption among Mongol Empire elites
For the first time, researchers have pinpointed a date when elite Mongol Empire people were drinking yak milk, according to a study co-led by a University of Michigan researcher.
By analyzing proteins found within ancient dental calculus, an international team of researchers provides direct evidence for consumption of milk from multiple ruminants, including yak. In addition, they discovered milk and blood proteins associated with both horses and ruminants. The team's results are published in Communications Biology.
The study presents novel protein findings from an elite Mongol Era cemetery with exceptional preservation in the permafrost. This is the first example of yak milk recovered from an archaeological context.
Previous research indicates that milk has been a critical resource in Mongolia for more than 5,000 years. While the consumption of cattle, sheep, goat and even horse milk have securely been dated, until now, when people began drinking milk from yaks has been difficult to determine. Understanding when and where humans domesticated this iconic species has been limited to rarely recovered yak remains and artistic depictions of yaks. However, whether these are wild or domestic is unclear.
The discovery of an elite Mongol era cemetery in northern Mongolia was surprising to the researchers.
"Our most important finding was an elite woman buried with a birchbark hat called a bogtog and silk robes depicting a golden five-clawed dragon. Our proteomic analyses concluded that she drank yak milk during her lifetime," said Alicia Ventresca-Miller, U-M assistant professor of anthropology. "This helped us verify the long-term use of this iconic animal in the region and its ties to elite rulers."
Located along a high-elevation ridgeline covered in mist, the location bears the name "Khorig," meaning taboo. It may be that this cemetery was considered elite, as the researchers recovered evidence of connections to the ruling elite, including a five-clawed dragon depicted on a Cizhou vessel and traditional robe, or deel.
"Ceramic vessels were turned into lanterns made of dairy products, which revealed long-standing religious ideas and the daily life of the elites of the Mongol empire," said J. Bayarsaikhan, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and the National Museum of Mongolia.
Archaeologists have spent years collecting and conserving pieces of silk and leather strewn across the surface near the burials. Unfortunately, over the past few decades the permafrost has begun to melt and the sites have been heavily looted.
"The degree of looting that we are seeing is unprecedented. Nearly every burial that we can locate on the surface has recently been destroyed by looting activity," said Julia Clark of Nomad Science.
Archaeologists have long suspected that this area was important, and it remains one of the primary areas of yak herding in the present day. While much was lost to looters, what remained of the burials was still well preserved within the permafrost.
An international team of researchers used proteomic analysis of dental calculus to identify the diets of Mongol era elites. They found proteins associated with milk, blood and other tissues that had been consumed by different individuals.
"What is really exciting is that between cows and yaks, there is only a single difference in the amino acid sequence in the most commonly recovered milk protein, and in this case, we were able to recover the part which is specific to yak, Bos mutus," said study co-lead and paleoproteomics specialist Shevan Wilkin of the University of Zurich and Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
Due to the incredible preservation made possible through the permafrost environmental conditions, the team was able to identify intriguing proteins recovered for the first time from archaeological samples. These included horse milk curd proteins as well as caprine and equine blood proteins that had not been previously recovered from dental calculus.
注释：
pinpoint：v; adj
1.v表示"精确地找到"，means "find or describe exactly"，如：t's difficult to pinpoint the cause of the accident. 很难清楚地找到事故发生的原因。
2. adj表示"精确的"，means " very exact"，如：These missles can be fired with pinpoint accuracy. 这些导弹可精确地命中目标。
calculus: n
1.表示"结石"，如：Does urine road calculus eat black fungus correctly? 尿路结石吃黑木耳正确么？
2.表示" 微积分"，如：I had studied calculus before I got into college. 我在上大学以前,已经学过微积分。
ruminant: n
表示" 反刍动物"，如：Cows and sheep are both ruminants. 牛和羊都是反刍动物。
depiction: n
表示" 描述；描画"，means "a graphic or vivid verbal description"，如：The novel begins with a brief depiction of the hero's early years. 小说开头简要描述了主人公的早年生活。
birchbark: n
表示"桦皮舟"，means "a canoe made with the bark of a birch tree"，如：The lissome birchbark canoe seemed to be a fish, so easily did it cut through the rolling black waves and ranks of ice. 轻盈的桦皮舟像一条大鱼，在滚滚的黑色波涛和冰排中间飞一般地前进。
proteomic: n
表示" 蛋白质组学"，如：This paper gives an overview of recent pollen proteomic investigations. 本文综述了花粉蛋白质组学的研究进展。
anthropology: n
表示"人类学"，means "the social science that studies the origins and social relationships of human beings"，如：His field of expertise was anthropology. 他的研究领域是人类学。
ridgeline: n
表示" 山脊线"，means "a long narrow range of hills"，如：Fire on these enemies from the ridgeline above for a tactical advantage. 消防局对这些敌人，从山脊线以上的战术优势。
Ceramic: n; adj
1. n表示" 陶器"，如：There is a ceramic shop in the Arcade. 商店街中有一家陶器店
2.adj表示" 陶器的"，如：These ceramic tiles are the ultimate in modern kitchen design. 这种瓷砖是现代厨房装修中的极品。
loot：v; n
1. v表示" 掠夺"，means "carry off loot;take sth as loot;take loot from sth"，如：The mob looted many shops in the area. 暴徒在该地抢劫了许多商店。
2. n表示"赃物"，means " goods taken from an enemy in war or stolen by thieves"，如：The thieves divides the loot into equal shares. 窃贼们把赃物均分成若干份。
Bos mutus: n
表示“犁牛(拉丁语）”，其中mutus（adj），表示"哑人, 哑的"
Paleoproteomics：n
表示"古蛋白质组学"， 其中paleo表示"古，旧"
caprine：adj
表示"山羊的"，means "being or pertaining to or resembling a goat or goats"，如：caprine arthritis encephylity virus 山羊关节炎-脑炎病毒
equine: n; adj
1. n表示" 马"，means "a horse"，如：For the most part, there is a fairly consistent pattern in the development of an equine from foalhood to old age. 在极大程度上，马从小马驹到老马的发展有一个相当一致的模范。
2. adj表示"马的；似马的"，means "resembling a horse"，如：Donkeys are related to horses, and both are part of the equine family. 驴是马的近亲，两者都是马科家庭的一员。
中文简要说明：
美国密歇根大学人类学者日前发布研究报告，从永冻土层古人遗骸牙结石找到证据显示，世界上最早的牦牛奶饮用纪录是1270年左右，时值蒙古帝国时期，这是学界首度指明人类饮用牦牛奶的时间点。研究报告已于3月31日登上《生物学通讯》（Communications Biology）。
密歇根大学与苏黎世大学等学术机构学者专家组成的国际研究团队，从埋在现今蒙古北部库苏古尔省（Khovsgol）永冻土层古人遗骸的牙结石发现牦牛乳汁的蛋白质，成为古人饮用牦牛奶的直接证据。研究人员还找到其他蛋白质与马、反刍动物的乳汁、血液、组织有关。
牦牛相关制品是欧亚大陆东部高海拔聚落居民重要的热量来源，也是重要商品。到目前为止，蒙古与牦牛有关的早期历史发现的证据极少，牦牛是否驯化饲养也一直未能确定。唯一发现可供辨认的考古样本是从现今蒙古中部一处遗址出土的牦牛颅骨，其年代暂时推定介于青铜器时代晚期与铁器时代初期之间。
由于蒙古饲养牦牛的考古证据与历史文献均十分有限，这次新发现的蛋白质证据，让现代人得以更进一步理解牦牛在古代的用途与拓展情形。研究报告指，上述蛋白质在一处蒙古帝国时期的菁英人士墓地发现，墓地位于永冻土层，保存十分完好，这也是考古界第一次找出牦牛奶的例证。
此前有研究指出，牛奶是过去5000多年来蒙古地区的重要资源。人类从何时开始饮用牛、绵羊、山羊甚至马的乳汁均已确认，但牦牛奶的饮用起源至今很难界定。少数出土的牦牛遗迹与艺术作品，无法让学界确知人类到底从何时、在何地开始饮用牦牛奶，牦牛奶来自野生或人为饲养的牛只也未明。
因此，这次在蒙古北部库苏古尔省找到的蒙古帝国菁英古墓，对学界有如一份惊喜。密歇根大学人类学助理教授凡翠丝卡米勒（Alicia Ventresca-Miller）说，团队最重要的发现当属古墓里一名菁英阶级女性遗骸，她戴着一顶用桦树皮制成的帽子，身穿丝袍，丝袍上有一只五爪金龙图案。经由蛋白质分析得知，这名女性生前常喝牦牛奶，这项发现有助厘清牦牛在蒙古地区由人们长期利用、牦牛与菁英统治阶级之间有何关联。
这处古墓位于库苏古尔山海拔2000至2100公尺山脊在线，当地位处古代蒙古帝国北缘，有「禁忌之地」（Khorig）之称，缘由可能与古墓属于蒙古帝国菁英阶级人士有关，出土的丝袍、产自磁州窑的器皿均有五爪金龙图案，显示死者身分高贵。研究人员从此地埋葬的11人遗骸牙结石提取蛋白质分析，11件样本有10件检出常在口腔蛀牙发现的蛋白质，并从中发现牦牛奶特有的胺基酸序列。
研究报告指出，这项重要发现代表牦牛奶很可能在蒙古帝国时期已有人饮用，年代大约是1270年。这个年分相对较晚，研究团队认为，人类喝牦牛奶的时间点可能更早，但直到如今终于才有确切年代出炉。
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