It is difficult to trace the oldest cheese in the world, although we have direct evidence that humans have consumed milk for thousands of years.
Archaeologists have identified milk residues on ancient pots unearthed from many regions of the world.
Studying the carbon isotopes of fatty acids in pot residues has revealed that humans consumed milk in Britain from 4000BC and as long ago as 7000BC in Anatolia, a region in Turkey known for its farming during the Neolithic period.
Anatolian farmers migrated far and wide. Milk fat traces don’t often survive millennia underground, but the high number of Anatolian pottery fragments has led scientists to speculate that milk must have been used to create longer-lasting dairy products such as cheese.
