The perfect compagnon: an history of cat domestication .


Have you ever wondered how cats became our beloved pets? It's a fascinating journey that began thousands of years ago, with a wildcat from the Middle East named Felis silvestris, the ancestor of all modern cats. Around twelve thousand years ago, when humans began practicing agriculture in the Fertile Crescent, cats were likely first drawn to human settlements. They were attracted by rodents and food scraps that came with human habitation. The oldest archaeological evidence of this bond between humans and cats was found in Cyprus, where a cat was buried with its human, a testament to a shared life dating back nine thousand five hundred years.


The relationship between humans and cats was not always smooth, however. In ancient Egypt, cats were revered as sacred animals and worshipped as gods. They were mummified and buried with their owners, and killing a cat was punishable by death. But in medieval Europe, cats were associated with witchcraft and evil, and persecuted by the Church. They were burned, drowned, and tortured, and blamed for spreading the plague. This irrational hatred of cats led to a drastic decline in their population, which ironically allowed rats and fleas to thrive and spread more diseases.

Fortunately, cats eventually regained their status as beloved companions, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries. They were admired for their grace, beauty, and intelligence, and became popular subjects for artists and writers. They also began to diversify into different breeds, thanks to selective breeding and genetic mutations. Today, there are over seventy recognized breeds of domestic cats, ranging from the fluffy Persian to the hairless Sphynx. Cats have also conquered the internet, with millions of videos and memes featuring their adorable antics. They are now the most popular pet in the world, with over six hundred million living with humans. Cats have come a long way from their wild ancestors, but they still retain some of their instincts and independence. They are not just our pets, but our partners in a long and fascinating history.

Here are 10 subject thst relates to cat domestication:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Les grands tremblements de terre du 17e du siècle au Québec

Image
LES TREMBLEMENTS DE TERRE du 17e SIÈCLE  AU QUÉBEC Le 25 novembre 1988, un séisme a secoué le Québec. Ceux qui avaient vécu celui de 1935 ou même de 1925 ont raconté les dégâts causés par ces événements : usines et églises endommagées, vitres cassées, panique et évanouissements. Aujourd’hui, je vais vous parler des tremblements de terre au Québec au 17e siècle. Vous le savez peut-être, le Québec n’est pas à l’abri des secousses sismiques, même si elles sont généralement peu fréquentes et peu intenses. Mais saviez-vous qu’au 17e siècle, le Québec a connu le séisme le plus ancien et le plus puissant documenté dans son histoire? C’était le 5 février 1663, et il a secoué la région de Charlevoix avec une magnitude estimée à 7,0 M w . Ce séisme a été ressenti jusqu’à Montréal et a causé des dommages aux bâtiments et aux routes. Il a également provoqué des glissements de terrain et des changements dans le niveau des lacs et des rivières. Ce tremblement de terre a été précédé et suivi de p...
Read more

First nation protohistory of Québec

Image
  Like for the rest of the northeastern North America, the stages of Québec prehistory are usually divided into four main periods: Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Woodland, and Contact. Each period reflects the changes in the environment, culture, and technology of the Indigenous peoples who inhabited the region for thousands of years. Pointe du Paléoindien récent de type « Plano », de style « Sainte-Anne-Varney », provenant de La Martre en Gaspésie (DhDm-1-525-5). Photo : Émilie Deschênes 2016. Creative Commons 4.0 (by-nc-nd) Pointe-à-Callière, Cité d’archéologie et d’histoire de Montréal The Paleo-Indian Period (9000 BCE–5000 BCE) is the earliest stage of human occupation in Quebec, when the first nomadic hunters arrived from the south and followed the caribou herds into the territory that was recently freed from glaciers. They made distinctive stone tools, such as fluted Clovis like points and flat Plano like points, that were used for hunting and butchering animals. The ...
Read more