How, where, and when they lost their wild nature and developed close bonds with humans has long intrigued scientists. That is why researchers have analyzed DNA from bones found in archaeological sites in Europe, North Africa, and Anatolia to determine when cat domestication began. According to the results, it started somewhere in North Africa, millennia after the beginning of agriculture, and not in the Levant as previously thought. They arrived in Europe much later than believed, about 2,000 years ago, and then began to spread along the Silk Road to China. Additionally, they also discovered that leopards lived with people in China long before domestic cats appeared.
Domestication of cats
For many, they have become part of the family or the best choice for companionship. Whether on Team Cat or Team Dog, it is undeniable that cats have taken an important place in human life. However, it has not always been like this, as they went from being wild hunters to pets. Researchers have sought to answer questions about how, where, and when cats lost their wild nature and began to develop close emotional bonds with humans.
According to Professor Greger Larson from the University of Oxford, ‘They are ubiquitous, we make TV shows about them, and they dominate the internet. The relationship we have with cats now began about 3,500 or 4,000 years ago, rather than 10,000 years ago”.
Evidence thanks to DNA
Researchers have determined that all modern cats descend from a single species: the African wildcat. By analyzing the DNA from cat bone remains found at archaeological sites in Europe, North Africa, and Anatolia, they were able to determine that the domestication of cats did not begin at the start of agriculture in the Levant, as was previously thought.
It happened a few millennia later in North Africa. “Instead of occurring in the area where people were initially settling with agriculture, it seems to be a phenomenon much more characteristic of Egypt,” said Professor Larson. These statements make sense and fit perfectly with what we know about the Pharaonic era and its society, which revered cats and preserved them as mummies.
Expansion of domestic cats to the rest of the world
Cats arrived in Europe about 2,000 years ago, much later than previously believed, and when they were transported and began spreading throughout the world, they were also valued on ships as pest controllers. They traveled across Europe and reached the United Kingdom with the Romans, and made their way to China via the Silk Road. Except for Antarctica, cats are now found all over the planet.
Leopard cats
Another conclusion reached by researchers is that all cats come from the same species: the leopard cat. These are small wild felines, with spots similar to leopards, that lived in China with humans for about 3,500 years. According to Professor Shu-Jin Luo from Peking University, “The early relationship between humans and leopard cats was essentially ‘commensal,’ in which two species coexist without harming each other. Leopard cats benefited from living near people, while humans were largely unaffected or even welcomed them as natural rodent controllers”.
Although leopard cats have never been domesticated and continue to live freely in Asia, they have bred with domestic cats, giving rise to a new recognized breed: Bengal cats.