When did people domesticate cats? - briefly
People first began to domesticate cats around 10,000 years ago in the Near East. This process likely occurred as humans shifted from nomadic lifestyles to settled agriculture, leading to an increase in rodent populations that cats could help control.
When did people domesticate cats? - in detail
The exact timeline of cat domestication remains a subject of ongoing debate among scientists, but recent archaeological and genetic evidence suggests that this process began approximately 10,000 years ago in the Near East. This region, which includes modern-day Turkey, Iraq, and Syria, was home to some of the earliest agricultural communities. As humans transitioned from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle to settled farming, they began to interact more frequently with wild cats, particularly the African wildcat (Felis lybica), which was drawn to human settlements by the abundance of rodents and other small prey.
Over time, these interactions led to a mutually beneficial relationship between humans and cats. Cats provided valuable pest control services, protecting grain stores from rodents and reducing the risk of disease transmission. In return, humans offered cats food and shelter, creating an environment conducive to domestication. This process likely involved the selective breeding of tamer individuals, which over generations resulted in the emergence of distinct domestic cat populations.
Genetic studies have provided further insights into the timeline of cat domestication. By analyzing mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from both modern and ancient cat specimens, researchers have identified a common ancestor that lived around 100,000 years ago in Africa. However, it was not until approximately 10,000 years ago that cats began to diverge genetically from their wild ancestors, indicating the onset of domestication. This genetic divergence is thought to have occurred as cats adapted to life alongside humans, with natural selection favoring traits such as reduced aggression and increased sociability.
Archaeological evidence also supports the idea that cat domestication began in the Near East around 10,000 years ago. Some of the earliest known cat remains have been found in Neolithic sites dating back to this period, including a cat skeleton buried alongside a human in Cyprus, which has been radiocarbon dated to approximately 9,500 years old. These findings suggest that cats were already considered important companions by this time, with some individuals being accorded the honor of burial alongside their human counterparts.
In addition to the Near East, cat domestication may have occurred independently in other regions of the world. For example, genetic analyses have revealed that some modern cat breeds originated from separate wildcat populations in Europe and Asia. However, these secondary domestication events likely occurred much later than the initial process in the Near East, possibly as a result of trade or human migration.
In summary, while the exact timeline of cat domestication remains uncertain, evidence from genetics, archaeology, and historical records suggests that this process began approximately 10,000 years ago in the Near East. As humans settled into agricultural communities, they formed a mutually beneficial relationship with wild cats, ultimately leading to the emergence of the domestic cat species as we know it today.