science

Above we see one manifestation of the phenomenon, a feral cat who sought a human family when looking for a place to have her kittens. (The adopted family has had her spayed, and is looking for homes for the five kittens. If your life will no longer be complete without one of those adorable kittens as part of it, make your inquiries here.)

In certain social and religious circles it's considered rude to suggest that biological processes like symbiosis, which apply to most other species, are not a part of the human condition. But then there are those of us who take it as well proven that people live in symbiotic relationships with our pets and certain other species but ask: "How long has this been going on?"

Longer than previously estimated, so it seems.

A team of archaeologists led by the Paris Museum of Natural History's Jean-Denis Vigne, digging in a neolithic burial site on Cyprus, found the remains of a cat buried along with those of a human. The grave was some 9,500 years old.

It had been thought that cats were first domesticated in Egypt some three to four thousand years ago, but this discovery could put that milestone in human-feline relations back more than 5,000 years.

The cat in the tomb was of the wild Felis silvestris species --- one that's slightly larger than most of today's domestic cats and was apparently was imported onto the Mediterranean island from the mainland --- and was about eight months old when it died. The account of the find was published in the April 8 edition of Science magazine. Archaeologists have been working on this site, the Shillourokambos settlement on Cyprus, since 1992. Though the burial has attracted the attention of the news media because it suggests a reverent relationship between people and cats that goes back to at least the late stone age, the Cypriot dig in general is also giving up many clues about the early domestication of a number of other animals --- cattle, sheep, goats, swine and dogs --- and a prehistoric maritime commerce in such livestock between Cyprus and Asia Minor.



Also in this section:
Symbiosis I: Cats and people
Polio back in Africa?
Symbiosis II: Looking back at old science, knowing what we know
Smithsonian's photo chief talks digital history, future

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