It’s not called the Third Pole for nothing. The Tibetan Plateau forms the major portion of a vast upland area of ice and glaciers that covers some 100,000 square kilometers of Earth’s surface.
It’s not called the Third Pole for nothing. The Tibetan Plateau forms the major portion of a vast upland area of ice and glaciers that covers some 100,000 square kilometers of Earth’s surface.
It is a cold, arid and unforgiving landscape that couldn’t be more different from the warm plains and valleys that gave rise to our species.
Yet, for thousands of years the Tibetan Plateau has been occupied by Homo sapiens. It has seen the establishment of agricultural societies, and the growth of religions, kingdoms and even empire.
How humans managed not just to subsist but to thrive in this high-altitude landscape is a question that has challenged researchers for decades—and one that has captivated us too.
We know part of the answer lies in Tibetan genes, and a unique adaptation that enables people living in the region to use oxygen more efficiently, avoiding the potentially lethal effects of hypoxia (the condition that arises from a lack of oxygen).
But just as important as avoiding hypoxia was finding enough food in the plateau’s unpredictable, freezing and hyper-arid environment.
Our research, published today in Science Advances, set out to look more closely at early Tibetan diets. To do this, we examined ancient dental plaque, a rich source of dietary information.
Our results show one food in particular may have been crucial to sustained human occupation and expansion across the Tibetan Plateau: milk.
