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First Hard Evidence for the Process of Cat Domestication
sciencehabit writes "Cats have been part of human society for nearly 10,000 years, but they weren't always string-chasers and lap-sitters. Ancient felines hunted crop-destroying rats and mice for early farmers, and in return we provided food and protection. At least that's what scientists have long speculated. Now, they can back it up. Cat bones unearthed in a 5000-year-old Chinese farming village indicate that the animals consumed rodents and that some may have been cared for by humans. The findings provide the earliest hard evidence of this mutually beneficial relationship between man and cat."
These guys have it the wrong way around. Humans didn't domesticate cats, cats domesticated humans. Within about half an hour of yge first cat realizing it could get foods and grooming from a human just by looking cute and rubbing against their legs every nowand then it made the human its servant and lived a life of leisure. I bet it never bothered to kill anything that wasn't within a law's length of it again.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Are they sure the farmers werent farming the cats?
Not entirely mutually beneficial... Toxoplasma gondii parasites, anyone?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/01/220113-sneaky-cat-parasite-takes-over-human-brains-science/
And once infected, you are twice as likely to get in a car accident, among other negative effects.
The article summary claims cats have "been part of human society for nearly 10,000 years" and then trumpets "Cat bones unearthed in a 5000-year-old Chinese farming village". Then finishes with "The findings provide the earliest hard evidence ..."
Cheers
Jon
BS.
I've got one on my desk right now proving it certainly isn't domesticated. She's trying to eat everything in sight. Our other one has previously chewed right through my phone charging cable.
The difference between cats and dogs:
A dog thinks: You feed me, you house me, you look after me. You must be a god.
A cat thinks: You feed me, you house me, you look after me. I must be a god.
Ever stop to think
See, that excuse only washes when the words are dictionary words. "nowand" and "yge" are not dictionary words. There is a reason you get are forced to preview your post before submitting. Take the opportunity.
with my 7 cats. Maybe thats why I like playing The Need For Speed on my 3DO
by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
they don't scratch our eyes out during their byrd hunting breaks so that's domestic bliss
"Cats have been part of human society for nearly 10,000 years, but they weren't always string-chasers and lap-sitters.
If you believe in evolution, this isn't exactly news.
== Jez ==
Do you miss Firefox? Try Pale Moon.
> A cat thinks: You feed me, you house me, you look after me. I must be a god.
5000 years ago a flying saucer landed at the spot where the Great Pyramids of Gizeh stand today. All the egyptians gathered to greet it. Eventually Pharaoh Ekhnaton stepped forward and said: I, for one, welcome our new nekomimi overladies!
I guess this is just common sense. The cat is bored and wants to play.
If you don't play, the cat will entertain himself but you might not like the way this goes if it involves chewing cables and knocking over things.
Play early, play often!
"Cat bones unearthed in a 5000-year-old Chinese farming village indicate that the animals consumed rodents "
Finally, that burning question "do cats eat mice?' can finally be laid to rest.
Cats do eat mice!
There is no proof we have actually been domesticating cats as petting animals for more than a few hundred years. Until the 19th century or so, these were just semi-wild animals that got access to our barns and homes to kill rodents, but they would claw you the moment you tried to touch them. It wasn't until we started breeding them for special looks that we got the "cute and friendly" animal we have now. Even that animal gets feral really quick, kittens born in the wild often act just like wild cats and aren't cute or attracted to humans at all. Domestication as in tolerating each other probably went on for a long time, but we haven't been petting them until we got the luxury of being able to breed them purely for their looks.
I was promised a flying car. Where is my flying car?
As many point out, the cats have it good in most homes. But I think dogs have it better. The stereotype is that dogs are dumb and cats are smart. Well, dogs are the ones who have an entourage (us) following them around and picking up their poop. Think about it. We pick up their POOP. We literally wait for them to finish pooping, then we (with a bag only a few hundredths of a millimeter thick) stoop to pick up their poop and we carry it until we get home to put in in our trash. Any other owner/pet relationship has the owner doing that?
While I agree that competent users of vi or emacs can all do the same things, I feel that the major difference between the two is related to what happens when a cat walks on the keyboard.
teh Kittehs? I can has first kitteh post.
cats and dogs have different evolutionary strategies.
A dog wants you to be happy to ensure you keep feeding him.
A cat wants you to know your place to ensure you keep feeding him.
More music, fewer hits
From a land where anything the crawls, swims or flies gets eaten, I wouldn't be amazed they actually also ate the kitties.
Sheeple are exposed to some very carefully crafted, social engineering propaganda. The most subversive is this:
You, the current population of the nation, are vastly more intelligent, civilised, moral and advanced than those LOSERS who were your ancestors.
This manipulative method can be seen in the old comedians joke- where the performers says before his act starts "you are a GREAT audience, not like those idiots I had in my last audience."
10,000 years ago, the people were, inherently, just like you and I. What they fundamentally desired and feared was just the same. Their understanding of good and evil was just the same. Their vulnerability to rule by profoundly evil psychopaths was just the same. And their ability to enjoy the company of their pet cats was just the same.
And before the usual vile shills try to tell you that Human relationships are a very recent phenomenon, because you can 'prove' some ancient communities lacked such relationships, on our present day Earth, there are many nations where cat and dog ownership is very rare, and cruelty to these two species is very common- at the command of those that rule in those areas. Encouraging extreme animal cruelty is a common factor in regions where the leaders need the sheeple to feel that life, including their own, is very cheap indeed.
PS, on the same theme, did you know the so-called rituals of 'ancient' or 'primitive' tribal people in our present are actually entirely recent creations imposed by alpha abusers (frequently sexually deviants) who exploited groups of poorly educated, subsistence living colonies, to impose some of the nastiest mind games imaginable against very vulnerable Humans. Look at how the familiar cults work in modern nations, and how easily a charismatic manipulator can win over the lives of adults and their families. Now imagine highly educated, highly perverted Africans or Asians or South-Americans heading for the regions where people lived in the most basic ways, and taking leadership positions in those groups during the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. These deviants could engage in every possible perversion, 'explained' away by 'tribal customs'. And sheeple- at least most of them- define their lives by the rituals they expect to take part in across each year- including YOU and your family.
They saw some humans hung out with them on their terms.
what evidence is there to prove that the said 5000 year old kitty wasn't actually dinner ?
Great link, that is brilliant!
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
Stupid humans think they've domesticated us... now they buy as food and play things for free and we don't do shitall anymore. Another win for the cats! Tomorrow the world!.. oh wait we already did. Back to grooming my a-hole.
- A Cat
> Ancient felines hunted crop-destroying rats and mice for early farmers, and in return we provided food and protection.
> In case city dwellers get the wrong idea, felines hut crop-destroying rats and mice for current farmers, also. Everyone works on a farm, including the pets.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Yep, he fetches. Drinks out of the toilet. Chases other cats.
He's a dog in a cat suit, I think.
Just waiting for his meow to come out as a bark, one day.
... are just as companionable as dogs.
My personally belief is that cats are not truly personable and domestic unless they are free to enter and leave the house on their own terms.
Dogs typically are not allowed to do this as they will cause all kinds of problems in the neighborhood unless restricted. Dogs are cool with such restrictions as they MUST be trained to heel for basic civility.... They also require a lot more direct intervention from the host for their domesticity.
Cats, on the other hand, only need be shown the facilities, (cat box, food and water) and be shown the boundaries by their mother or an early human influence. Once the boundaries are established, cats will keep to the terms of the relationship (dogs will too, depending on breed and training). Where cats often go astray is when the terms of the relationship change abruptly. Owner moves from house with large yard to an apartment complex. In these cases the dog is more flexible in adapting to the changes. Cats are less flexible in these situations.
While both cats and dogs 'bond' and desire close relationships, cats want that relationship to be on THEIR terms, within the defined boundaries. Dogs expect YOU to define the terms, and continually reenforce those terms. Cats seems to expect that once the terms of the relationship are settled, those terms will not change quickly.
As a side issue. Lesser cats (as opposed to greater cats) have only been domesticated for about 5k - 10k years.... Dogs have been domesticated for about 50k - 100k years.
Personally I wish it were possible to domesticate larger cats... but realistically that won't happen for another 5K - 10k years.... Anyone who has dealt with Ocelots and other mid-sized cats can tell you... part of the relationship boundary is that a cat is only domesticated to the point where they see the 'master' as an existential threat. Healthy mid-sized cats do not perceive humans as an existential threat, and so are difficult to domesticate. At best we can come to some fragile truce with a mid-to-large cat.
I don't like cats. Besides, today's average cat is so spoiled and used to us feeding them that if they see a rat they will probably get scared as if it's the first time they ever saw one.