Today cats are represented by an integral part of a family life. But not always was so! Where and when there lived that first wild cat who became domestic? The answer to this question still causes a lot of controversy among scientists.
One of the main issues – why in general domestication of cats took place. Animals were necessary to ancient people for the sake of milk, wool, meat, nothing it can be received from a cat. However, she is a natural enemy of rodents that cannot but please farmers, but recent archaeological opening show that domestication of cats is more senior than agriculture. Possibly, cats began to lodge near the human dwelling where there were many scraps, so – it is a lot of mice and rats. It also allowed ancient people to watch cats and to estimate their advantages.
However, there was in the history also other way of use of cats in economy. Ancient Egypt which traditionally was considered as the historical homeland of domestic cats used them for hunting for birds in canes as now use hunting dogs. Perhaps, most ancient "profession" of a domestic cat was such.
From where it is domestic cats?
Long time was considered that modern domestic cats come from the small population existing in Ancient Egypt, but proofs to that were not, it is equally difficult to distinguish wild cats and from each other, and from house fellows of a tiger color. Only the genetics could give the final answer. And here at the beginning of the 21st century the English scientists K. Driscoll and S. O'Brien conducted the genetic research which forced to look in a new way at origin of modern pets. About 1000 genetic samples at the wild and domestic cats living in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Azerbaijan in the Middle East and in South Africa were taken. During the analysis allocated five genetic groups: the Chinese mountain cat, the South African wild cat, Asian steppe and European forest, and it is necessary to tell about the fifth group especially. Along with a Middle Eastern steppe cat all house representatives of this family participating in a research entered her. And so where it is necessary to look for the historical homeland of domestic cats – in the Middle East!
When did tame cats?
The most ancient domestic cat known for the scientist lived on the island of Cyprus 9.50 thousand years ago. It was the nine-month kitten buried near a human grave – probably, in it his owner was based. Why the person and a cat were buried together? In it religious worship could be shown, the cat could be considered as the same property as sea shells and stone tools which are in this grave too, or perhaps the person simply very much loved the cat, and relatives decided that to it it will be bad without it in the other world – already it is impossible to establish. But one is clear: there are no wild cats in Cyprus, this animal could get only together with the person there! Perhaps, to Cyprus they were brought from the Levantiysky coast. It allows to draw a conclusion that, 9.5 thousand years ago cats were already tamed, and for a long time, time at them was looked not only as at useful animals, but also as at an object of adoration and even respect. Such relation could arise at long tradition of keeping of cats. So, most likely the very first cats which were tamed by the person lived in the Middle East about 10 thousand years ago.