For years it was assumed almost without question that the Domestic cats lived alongside the first European farmers since Neolithic times.However, a wealth of new genomic data has radically changed that idea, placing the actual arrival of these felines in Europe much more recently than previously thought, thus challenging the classic interpretation of the feline domestication.
According to an international study published in the journal Science, in which the CSIC through the Institute of HistoryTrue European domestic cats originated in North Africa and arrived on the continent about 2.000 years ago, thanks to the trade and military routes of the Mediterranean, especially under the influence of the Roman world.
An unprecedented genomic study on the origin of the European cat
The new research is being led by University of Rome Tor Vergata and is based on the analysis of a large collection of feline archaeological remains. The team has sequenced the nuclear DNA of 70 ancient cats from sites in Europe and Anatolia, in addition to 17 genomes from modern wild cats of Europe and North Africa, which so far makes up the a more complete genetic reconstruction of the origin and dispersal of the domestic cat.
In total, the following have been studied 225 cat bonesBoth domestic and wild specimens were recovered from 97 sites spanning a period of approximately 10.000 years up to the 19th century. This combination of ancient remains and current specimens has allowed researchers to trace different feline lineages and more accurately distinguish which populations were truly domesticated and which still retained wild behavior and genetics.
The complexity of the process has led researchers to rely on paleogenomics, a discipline that allows Reconstructing the evolutionary history of species from degraded DNA preserved in bones and other remains. Thanks to this methodology, the work directly challenges several hypotheses that have been repeated for decades in manuals and specialized studies.
Among the co-authors is the archaeozoologist Marta Moreno, from the Institute of History of the CSICwho emphasizes that feline domestication is "a very complex process" in which probably several factors intervened multiple regions and cultures of North Africa, instead of a single focus or a well-defined center of origin.
From Neolithic myth to the prominence of the Mediterranean
Until now it was common to read that the Neolithic farmers of the Near East They had brought domesticated cats with them when they expanded into Europe between 6.000 and 7.000 years ago, as part of the group of farm animals that helped them protect their crops. One of the findings that most fueled this view was the famous co-burial of a human and a cat in Cyprus, dated to around 7500 BC, interpreted for years as evidence of a very early domestic relationship.
The new genomic analysis refutes that interpretation. The feline remains found in archaeological sites Neolithic and Chalcolithic peoples of southeastern Europe and AnatoliaThe animals that lived between the 7th and 3rd millennia BC actually belonged to wild cats. Their ancestors had hybridized at some point with undomesticated African catsBut they were not yet part of a domestic population like the one we know today.
The hypothesis that placed a second major center of domestication in Egypt, based on Pharaonic art and the burials of mummified catsThese interpretations demonstrated the enormous symbolic and religious significance these animals held in the Nile Valley. While the study doesn't deny their Egyptian importance, it does clarify that the genetic history of cats is more complex than these interpretations suggested.
The data suggests that domestication was not a single event in a specific location, but a complex and possibly multicentric phenomenon within North AfricaThere, different human groups would have strengthened their ties with cats of wild origin, gradually fostering a relationship of coexistence that, thousands of years later, would eventually give rise to the domestic cat as we know it.
In consecuense, The arrival of the truly domestic cat in Europe was much later. and it cannot be attributed to the Neolithic societies of the Near East, but to the dense network of contacts and routes of the ancient Mediterranean, driven by Phoenicians, Punics and, especially, by the Roman Empire.
Two large waves from North Africa
One of the most striking contributions of the work is the identification of two main waves of arrival of the African wildcat (Felis lybica) to EuropeThe first dates back to the first millennium BC and is documented in SardiniaThere, a lineage from northwest Africa would have given rise to the population of wild cats that still inhabits the island today, indicating an early human introduction of animals that were not yet fully domesticated.
The second wave is the one that really makes the difference. the beginning of the history of the modern European domestic catIt dates back to Roman times, from the 1st century BC, when domesticated cats from North Africa began to circulate systematically through the trade, military and maritime routes of the Mediterranean.
Researchers indicate that it is very likely that these animals traveled in the ships of grain from Egypt and other African regionsThey were used both as rodent control in warehouses and for their growing symbolic and social value. Once in ports and settlements, they would have spread to farms, cities, and military camps.
Thus, the Romans ended up Spreading the domestic cat across the Mediterranean, Central Europe and BritainA concrete example is the oldest genetically identified domestic cat in Europe, found in Mautern (Austria), in a ancient Roman fort on the Danube, dated between 50 BC and 80 AD and very close, in genetic terms, to modern domestic cats.
This scenario aligns with the view of other specialists on the team, such as the paleogeneticist Claudio Ottoni or the researcher Marco De Martinowho insist that what can be detailed with certainty today is the moment when domestic cats arrived in Europe from North Africa, although There are still unknowns about the earliest stages of its domestication.
Interaction between domestic and wild cats in Europe
Another key point of the study is the analysis of how the domestic and wild lineages Once cats from North Africa settled in Europe, the data indicates that Genetic hybridization was relatively limited during the Roman periodPerhaps because domestic populations were still small and linked to very specific environments, such as ports, cities, or military enclaves.
However, the mixing of European wild cats and domestic cats intensified over time, especially during the Middle Ages, to the point that It is still being produced in some regions today.This persistent hybridization has important practical consequences, as it complicates the conservation efforts of the European wildcat, a threatened species in several countries of the continent.
The authors emphasize that understanding these crossbreedings not only helps clarify the history of domestic cats, but also allows better define wild populations which should be protected. Knowing which lineages have mixed and at what historical moments makes it easier to design more precise conservation strategies to prevent the loss of genetic diversity inherent to the wildcat.
Genetic information also suggests that after the arrival of domestic cats to the continent, their The expansion was rapid and closely linked to human movements.As trade and transport networks became more dense, felines occupied new territories, adapting to rural and urban environments and consolidating their role as allies in rodent control.
All of this reinforces the idea that the domestic cat, as we know it today in Europe, is the result of a long history of contacts, crossings and displacements, rather than a simple “point of origin” that could be indicated on a map.
A paradigm shift in feline domestication
The study's results force a rethinking of much of what was previously assumed about cat domestication. Instead of a single center of origin and early expansion linked to the Neolithic period, the researchers propose a much more nuanced scenariowhere different human groups from North Africa established coexistence relationships with wild cat populations over centuries.
From that mosaic of local situations, it would have gradually taken shape over time, the lineage of the modern domestic catTheir arrival in Europe cannot be explained so much by the first Eastern farmers as by the Mediterranean networks driven by Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Romans, which moved people, goods and, incidentally, animals on a large scale.
This change of focus also highlights the need to review previous archaeological interpretations Because it was difficult to distinguish between wild and domestic cat bones at first glance, researchers tended to classify certain remains as domestic without solid genetic support. This study shows that, without DNA backing, some of these attributions can lead to erroneous conclusions.
For specialists like Marta Moreno, this data underscores the importance of to systematically recover and study faunal remains in excavationsIt's not just about reconstructing the geographical distribution of species, but about understanding the long-term relationships between human societies and animalsfrom its practical use in barns and ships to its symbolic and religious role.
The story that emerges is that of an animal that went from prowling the edges of fields and villages to becoming a common companion in homes across EuropeThis transition was neither linear nor immediate: it involved back-and-forth movements, multiple routes, and many generations of cats and people. The new genomic data doesn't exhaust the questions, but it does mark a turning point in our understanding. How, when, and from where did domestic cats arrive on the European continent?, and open the door to future research that will continue to complete this feline puzzle still under construction.
