Cats are among the most popular pets in homes around the world, but little is known about their domestication. However, a new study has revealed that beloved felines already populated the ancient farming village of Quanhucun, China, as early as 5300 years ago.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
I cats they are among the most popular animals in homes around the world, but little is known about them domestication. A new study, however, has revealed that the beloved felines already 5300 years ago populated the ancient farming village of Quanhucun, in China.
The researchers of the Washington University in Saint Louis (USA) su Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shedding light on first known evidence of mutualistic relationships between people and cats.
The discovery stems from the fact that humans, rodents and cats ate substantial amounts of millet-based foods, demonstrating close coexistence. To cats, therefore, it was allowed to enter the village, perhaps even in the houses, as shown by the rtirovamente of a very old cat, therefore well kept. Another cat ate less meat and more millet than the others, suggesting that it was probably fed by humans. This was because the human-cat relationship was beneficial to both: cats preyed on mice, helping ancient farmers get rid of them, while food attracted felines.
“The results of this study show that Quanhucun village was a food source for cats 5.300 years ago, and that the relationship between them and humans was one of commensality, or otherwise beneficial to cats. Even though the felines were not yet domesticated, our evidence confirms that lived in close contact with farmers, and that the relationship brought mutual benefits, ”reiterates Professor Fiona Marshall, co-author of the study.
Why is the discovery interesting? Because it helps us to better understand the origins of the relationship between man and these fantastic and fascinating animals. It is extremely rare, in fact, to find the remains of these animals in ancient archaeological sites, and little is known about how they were domesticated. For a long time it was believed that it all started in ancient Egypt, about 4.000 years ago, but more recent research already suggested the existence of close relationships with humans much earlier, as was shown by the discovery of a wild cat buried with a human nearly 10 years ago in Cyprus.
Although it has often been claimed that cats were attracted to rodents and other food items in early farming villages, to date, evidence of this theory was scarce. The results of the analysis of the remains of cats found in the Chinese excavations, carried out using radiocarbon dating and analyzes of the traces of nitrogen in the bones of the felines, have now definitively shown that the cats preyed on the very animals that lived on the millet farm, probably rodents. And they lived with man already thousands and thousands of years ago.
Roberta Ragni
