When did milk consumption begin? Evidence of human milk consumption has been found in both the continents of Europe and Africa. While estimates vary, it's clear that people have been drinking milk for at least a few thousand years. It’s been suggested that people in Kenya and Sudan were consuming milk at least 6,000 years ago.[1] Meanwhile, Smithsonian journalist Danny Lewis explains Europeans' ability to digest milk only began around 4,000 years ago.[2]
Over in Egypt, there's artwork on the tomb walls of Methethi that depicts an ancient Egyptian milking a cow, estimated around 2350 BC. Some research has led scientists to believe that humans were drinking milk long before their bodies could properly digest it, and there’s one common denominator that could be a determining factor–animal domestication. People who domesticated milk-producing animals were the groups who first began drinking animal milk. Still, there are a handful of theories that attempt to explain why humans started consuming cow milk in the first place.
With the domestication of livestock, farmers had a reliable source of food as opposed to hunting. Milk became a readily available ingredient, and more than likely naturally progressed into a common food item. Cow milk may have also been used when water wasn't clean enough to drink or to feed babies in the event the mother passed away. While there isn't one pinnacle explanation that exists, it's clear that milk has been a part of our history for generations.