Our pet dogs have been by our side for at least 20,000 years, evolving right along with us. True to their more elusive nature, the timeline of when cats domesticated is more murky. Our homespun feline friends appear to be a more recent arrival in some parts of the world, likely only arriving in Europe about 2,000 years ago. Their spread was assisted by the Roman military, with house cats ultimately reaching Britain by around 100 CE. The findings are detailed in a study recently published in the journal Science.
A brief history of housecats
Initially, archaeologists believed that humans began to live with cats about 9,500 years ago in the Levant—parts of the present-day eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. This timeline coincides with the beginning of the Neolithic era, when agriculture started to spread. The grains used in farming attracted rodents, which then enticed the wildcats to come and eat the rodents. Neolithic humans then likely kept the wildcats around to keep the rodents away, paving the way for domestication. Cat remains dating back to about 7500 BCE have been discovered in present-day Cyprus, indicating that the animals were a part of daily life by then.
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