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Traces of dairy fat, in ancient ceramic fragments provides hard evidence humans have been making cheese a long time
Before fridges, early farmers would have devised cheese-making as a way to preserve milk. It would have given them the best use of it.

Around 2012, in Poland, Princeton archaeologist Peter Bogucki noticed something
Archaeologists were working at ancient cattle-rearing sites. They found what appeared to be pieces of ceramic vessels, riddled with holes.

Using gas chromatography, and carbon-isotope ratios to analyse molecules
And, they determined the objects to be a cheese strainer.

It was huge
Almost 8000 years ago. The making of cheese would have allowed them to get around the indigestibility of milk without getting ill. And, re-use products that would potentially be going to waste.

Bibliography:

Subbaraman, Nidhi (2012). “Art of cheese-making is 7,500 years old”. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2012.12020 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature.2012.12020). S2CID 180646880 (https//doi.org/10.1038%2Fnature.2012.12020).