Dairying from the Indus Valley circa 2500 BC

[davit]

Didn't think it would be this old. Wonder which type of dairy products they had.

https://www.archaeology.org/news/915...s-valley-dairy

[poi]

I always assumed IVC had dairy culture since cattle(zebu breed) seemed to be prominent and represented as seals and figurines.



https://www.harappa.com/indus/27.html



As far as hard evidence of dairy (not just symbols of bulls that can’t be milked), do we know if those pottery had cow milk or milk from other mammals(goats)?

[davit]

I always assumed IVC had dairy culture since cattle(zebu breed) seemed to be prominent and represented as seals and figurines.



https://www.harappa.com/indus/27.html



As far as hard evidence of dairy (not just symbols of bulls that can’t be milked), do we know if those pottery had cow milk or milk from other mammals(goats)?

Shouldn't they have had bos taurus too? The most basic products imo would be cheese, yogurt, butter and obviously just milk consumption. I know the word for yogurt in Sanskrit has nothing to do with Turkish (Turkish origin of yogurt is a myth imo).

[poi]

Shouldn't they have had bos taurus too? The most basic products imo would be cheese, yogurt, butter and obviously just milk consumption. I know the word for yogurt in Sanskrit has nothing to do with Turkish (Turkish origin of yogurt is a myth anyways).

Given IVC’s trade links with West Asia and Africa, most likely Bos Taurus would have been used.
I haven’t seen Bos Taurus symbols from IVC, but that could be limitation of my knowledge and/or only Zebu being seen with significance. Regardless, if cattle were plentiful and milked for dairy in IVC(as they are in modern South Asia), both Zebu and Taurus breeds would have been used. But is there hard evidence for cow milk in IVC at all? Perhaps they(oxen) were used for plowing and bulls had religious/symbolic significance, while dairy product were goat based. Perhaps pegasus or parasar have more info.

[davit]

Given IVC’s trade links with West Asia and Africa, most likely Bos Taurus would have been used.
I haven’t seen Bos Taurus symbols from IVC, but that could be limitation of my knowledge and/or only Zebu being seen with significance. Regardless, if cattle were plentiful and milked for dairy in IVC(as they are in modern South Asia), both Zebu and Taurus breeds would have been used. But is there hard evidence for cow milk in IVC at all? Perhaps they(oxen) were used for plowing and bulls had religious/symbolic significance, while dairy product were goat based. Perhaps pegasus or parasar have more info.

Maybe. Is there also any way to determine which dairy products were consumed?

[poi]

Maybe. Is there also any way to determine which dairy products were consumed?

According to this, cheese, curd, and (boiled) milk among possible dairy products.

https://journalsofindia.com/dairy-pr...-civilisation/

Traces were seen in cooking vessels indicating that milk may have been boiled and consumed
Researchers also have found residues in a bowl showing that either heated milk or curd could have been served.
There are also remains of a perforated vessel, and similar vessels were used in Europe to make cheese.

[davit]

According to this, cheese, curd, and (boiled) milk among possible dairy products.

https://journalsofindia.com/dairy-pr...-civilisation/

Traces were seen in cooking vessels indicating that milk may have been boiled and consumed
Researchers also have found residues in a bowl showing that either heated milk or curd could have been served.
There are also remains of a perforated vessel, and similar vessels were used in Europe to make cheese.

According to this curd has a different meaning in India than the rest of the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curd

[poi]

This is interesting regarding the type of animal used for dairy versus meat:

A preliminary study suggested that most of the cattle and water-buffalo died at an older age, suggesting they could have been raised for milk, whereas the majority of goat/sheep died when they were young, indicating they could have been used for meat.

[poi]

Paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-72963-y