Lactose tolerance spread throughout Europe in a few thousand years – study

Lactose tolerance spread throughout Europe in a few thousand years – study (Stefan Sauer/Tollense Valley Project)

It only took a few thousand years for the human ability to digest the milk sugar lactose, after infancy, to spread throughout Central Europe, a study suggests.

Researchers analysed genetic material from the bones of individuals who had fallen in a conflict around 1200 BC on the banks of the Tollense, a river in present-day Germany.