Purr-archaeology and meow-genetics: Researchers are uncovering who was the first to welcome a cat into their home.

Egyptian pharaohs? Stone Age fishermen from Cyprus? Or perhaps ancient Chinese? Scientists are investigating who and when was the first to welcome a cat into their home, pet its striped fur, and listen to its soothing purr.

NATURE'S CROWN

This question is not just worth a million - but two million euros! This is the budget for the European research project FELIX. Geneticists, archaeozoologists (scientists studying animals from past eras), and molecular biologists have decided to thoroughly examine 1300 ancient cats. These furry creatures lived in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa over the last 11,000 years. It's worth noting that Russian cats were not included in the study, but Belarusian ones were.

- Cats are exceptional beings; they are an example of highly successful evolution. Their domestication process differs from that of other animals. Cats have learned to live alongside humans exceptionally well, but have changed very little in their nature, - explains paleogeneticist Claudio Ottoni from Tor Vergata University in Rome, the head of the FELIX project. - Even now, wild and domestic cats do not differ much in appearance.

In a way, nature decided at some point that the cat is the pinnacle of evolution. It is already beautiful; why change or improve it? Let it simply live, purr, and bring joy to our eyes.

DNA AND SUPERCOMPUTERS

Colleagues involved in "FELIX" are decoding the DNA of these furry creatures (extracted from preserved teeth and bones), analyzing mutations, searching for genetic links between ancient and modern cats, and studying bone composition to understand what the animals ate. They are even employing the most powerful supercomputers in Europe for their calculations. It seems that cats have domesticated humans along with all their scientific achievements!

For example, they are calculating from collagen in cat bones to determine when these felines began to eat fish. Most likely, this was one of the first stages of mutual affection - in ancient times, cats began to visit fishermen and receive their share.

MUMMIES WITH EARS

Until recently, it was thought that the first people enchanted by cats were the residents of Ancient Egypt. The furry mummies from museums in Egypt and Europe are precisely what Ottoni and his colleagues are studying. Cats were mummified using the same exquisite methods as the pharaohs. In one tomb, there are about 80,000 cat mummies! Cats accompanied their owners into the afterlife - they were depicted on sarcophagi. The goddess Bast had a head with ears. From a more practical standpoint: cats hunted rats and snakes, helping to preserve grain supplies. The pets of Ancient Egypt likely descended from wild Libyan or steppe cats.

Everything changed twenty years ago. On the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, six kilometers from the resort city of Limassol, during excavations of a Stone Age site, a boy was found buried with a cat. The first shared burial of a human and a cat! The sensational part is that the young Cypriot and the cat lived 10,000 - 11,000 years ago. This is 5,000 years earlier than the Egyptian pharaohs! This means that the history of coexistence between humans and cats is much longer than previously thought.

The furry mummies from museums in Egypt and Europe are precisely what Ottoni and his colleagues are studying.

Photo: Shutterstock.

WILD OR DOMESTIC

From what has recently been discovered through DNA analysis: modern European domestic cats - or rather, their ancestors - first began to interact with humans in North Africa. So, it turns out, near the pyramids and the Sphinx. They were brought to the Old World during the time of the Roman Empire.

- But if it all started 10,000 years ago, we can assume that cats appeared in Europe at that time - just like pigs and other domestic animals. However, DNA analysis indicates that at that time, cats in Europe were still wild. The first domestic genes appeared only 2,500 years ago, - says Ottoni.

In general, modern domestic cats have genetic heritage from wild ancestors of at least five different species: European, Southern African, Central Asian, Middle Eastern wild cats, and also the Chinese desert cat.

The mention of China is not accidental. In Hubei province, paleontologists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered the remains of a kitten that is 300,000 years old. It was a distant ancestor of the leopard cat, very small, about the size of a palm. It is unclear whether it lived in a cave with humans or was part of their dinner (as it has been scientifically proven that wild cats were often hunted in prehistoric times). However, in Shaanxi province, a cat was found that was clearly fed by humans 5,300 years ago - it ate a lot of millet. Apparently, it heroically guarded grain supplies from rats and mice, and also got some for itself.

MOVED FROM AFRICA OR THE NEAR EAST

Or perhaps there were several places where cats and humans found each other and began to live together? The working hypothesis is that the first step towards each other occurred in the Near East (and Cyprus is nearby) 10 - 11 thousand years ago. Cats entered the homes of the first farmers as soon as help was needed in combating rodents.

The second center of cat domestication was Ancient Egypt, about 6,000 years ago. But it could have happened differently - cats were domesticated in the Near East, and then they moved to North Africa together with humans. All options seem quite realistic.

However, research continues, and the project is set to last another two years. Scientists doubt whether the question is even being posed correctly. Perhaps we should find out not where and when cats became domestic animals, but whether they actually did at all? Or did they just pretend? After all, cats are known to roam freely!

AND HOW ABOUT US?

Paws, tail, and crown

Moscow archaeologists have also recently made a "cat" discovery. They found two tiles made of red clay depicting a regal animal! One on Tverskaya Street, the other on Nikolskaya Street. And on each tile, there is a cat wearing a crown. These tiles date back to the 17th century, which means that 400 years ago, cats were already revered in Moscow.

- The tiles were found on two streets in the center of Moscow: on the territory of the Chizhevsky courtyard and on Tverskaya. These findings have allowed us to better understand the daily life of Muscovites in the 17th century. For instance, it has become evident that love and respect for these domestic pets were actively expressed in visual art four centuries ago. The tiles featuring a crowned cat were popular among the townspeople, - said Alexey Emelyanov, head of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage.

Cat remains are also found during excavations in Veliky Novgorod. The Novgorod cats were miniature, averaging 3.5 kg, and did not live long, typically two to three years.