Milk was not discovered by a single individual but rather by early humans during the Neolithic period as they began domesticating animals. The earliest evidence of milking dates back about 8,000 to 9,000 years ago in the seventh millennium BC, with strong archaeological evidence found in regions like Northwest Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). Early farmers and pastoralists who raised livestock such as cattle, sheep, and goats likely observed animals nursing their young and began milking them, initially for sustenance, before dairy consumption spread with the development of agriculture and animal domestication. Milk usage, especially from cattle, sheep, and goats, formed an important part of early agricultural societies' diets and allowed settlements to grow.
In short, milk was "discovered" as a resource by early farmers and herders collectively over thousands of years when they domesticated and milked animals, rather than being the discovery of a single person.
