However the detection of milk residues in ceramic vessels is now considered the most promising means of detecting the origins of milking. Discovery of such residues has pushed back the earliest date for milking into the Neolithic. A study of more than 2,200 pottery vessels from sites in the Near East and Southeastern Europe indicated that milking had its origins in northwestern Anatolia.
The detection of milk residues in ceramic vessels is now considered the most promising method for determining the origins of milking. The discovery of such residues has shifted the earliest date for milking back to the Neolithic period. A study of over 2,200 pottery vessels from sites in the Near East and Southeastern Europe revealed that milking originated in northwestern Anatolia.