Cats in recent Chinese study on cat domestication are commensal, not domesticated

Bar-Oz, Guy; Weissbrod, Lior; Tsahar, Ella

doi:10.1073/pnas.1324177111

Cited by 38 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…We identified an articulating radius and ulna from a single small felid at Taosi; however, the morphologies of post‐cranial elements are similar for wild and domestic cats. Hu et al () recently used isotopic data to argue that domesticated cats were present in China by the Middle Neolithic, but their conclusions are controversial (Bar‐Oz et al ). For now we will consider the Taosi cat as wild.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sheep, Cattle, and Specialization: New Zooarchaeological Perspectives on the Taosi Longshan

Brunson

Dai

2015

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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In this paper, we present a zooarchaeological analysis of the Longshan period sites of Taosi and Zhoujiazhuang (ca. 2300–1900 cal. BC) in southern Shanxi Province, China. We compare the faunal record at both sites in terms of the proportions of wild and domestic taxa; the slaughter patterns for the main domesticates; the types of bones used to produce utilitarian and decorative bone artifacts; and the types of bones used for ritual oracle bone divination. Differences in the faunal records at Taosi and Zhoujiazhuang provide insights into the connections between specialization and early urbanism. Our research also provides clues about how sheep and cattle pastoralism was initially adopted in the Yellow River Valley during the late 3rd millennium BC. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sheep, Cattle, and Specialization: New Zooarchaeological Perspectives on the Taosi Longshan

Brunson

Dai

2015

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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“…However, did this commensal relationship ultimately result in its domestication? Apart from the surprisingly [ 17 ] low δ 15 N values obtained by Hu et al [ 16 ] for one cat bone at Quanhucun (pit H130), three other lines of evidence may favour this latter hypothesis. First, the extensive wear observed on the teeth of the two mandibles from pit H172 at Quanhucun (likely the same individual) is very uncommon in small wild felids and suggests that this individual cat may have been fed by humans.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…On the basis of these data, the authors claimed that the evidence from China provided “the earliest known evidence for a commensal relationship between people and cats” [ 16 ] (p. 116), even though the introduction of cats to Cyprus has been shown to be some 4,500 years earlier. Bar-Oz and collaborators have questioned the low δ 15 N value obtained by Hu et al for one of the Quanhucun cats, arguing that this value is diagnostic of herbivores and cats are obligate carnivores [ 17 ]. They agreed that the Quanhucun cats were likely commensal, but considered that the suggested link between the current evidence and the trajectory of cat domestication in China is tenuous and that, in the absence of a definitive taxonomic identification of the small Quanhucun felid, the data can only be interpreted as evidence of commensalism, not domestication.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earliest “Domestic” Cats in China Identified as Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)

et al. 2016

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The ancestor of all modern domestic cats is the wildcat, Felis silvestris lybica, with archaeological evidence indicating it was domesticated as early as 10,000 years ago in South-West Asia. A recent study, however, claims that cat domestication also occurred in China some 5,000 years ago and involved the same wildcat ancestor (F. silvestris). The application of geometric morphometric analyses to ancient small felid bones from China dating between 5,500 to 4,900 BP, instead reveal these and other remains to be that of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). These data clearly indicate that the origins of a human-cat ‘domestic’ relationship in Neolithic China began independently from South-West Asia and involved a different wild felid species altogether. The leopard cat’s ‘domestic’ status, however, appears to have been short-lived—its apparent subsequent replacement shown by the fact that today all domestic cats in China are genetically related to F. silvestris.

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“…Based on δ 13 C and δ 15 N values of bone collagen, Hu et al ( 60 ) identified a substantial consumption of millet-based food by humans, rodents, and cats, which suggested a possible commensal or even mutualistic behavior of Neolithic cats. However, lack of data for contemporary rodents and other possible prey limited the interpretative potential of those results ( 61 ). Furthermore, morphometric verification of Chinese cat remains revealed that the study involved a leopard cat ( Prionailurus bengalensis ) rather than a wildcat or domestic cat ( 62 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancestors of domestic cats in Neolithic Central Europe: Isotopic evidence of a synanthropic diet

Krajcarz

Baca

et al. 2020

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Cat remains from Poland dated to 4,200 to 2,300 y BCE are currently the earliest evidence for the migration of the Near Eastern cat (NE cat), the ancestor of domestic cats, into Central Europe. This early immigration preceded the known establishment of housecat populations in the region by around 3,000 y. One hypothesis assumed that NE cats followed the migration of early farmers as synanthropes. In this study, we analyze the stable isotopes in six samples of Late Neolithic NE cat bones and further 34 of the associated fauna, including the European wildcat. We approximate the diet and trophic ecology of Late Neolithic felids in a broad context of contemporary wild and domestic animals and humans. In addition, we compared the ecology of Late Neolithic NE cats with the earliest domestic cats known from the territory of Poland, dating to the Roman Period. Our results reveal that human agricultural activity during the Late Neolithic had already impacted the isotopic signature of rodents in the ecosystem. These synanthropic pests constituted a significant proportion of the NE cat’s diet. Our interpretation is that Late Neolithic NE cats were opportunistic synanthropes, most probably free-living individuals (i.e., not directly relying on a human food supply). We explore niche partitioning between studied NE cats and the contemporary native European wildcats. We find only minor differences between the isotopic ecology of both these taxa. We conclude that, after the appearance of the NE cat, both felid taxa shared the ecological niches.

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Cats in recent Chinese study on cat domestication are commensal, not domesticated

Cited by 38 publications

References 4 publications

Sheep, Cattle, and Specialization: New Zooarchaeological Perspectives on the Taosi Longshan

Sheep, Cattle, and Specialization: New Zooarchaeological Perspectives on the Taosi Longshan

Earliest “Domestic” Cats in China Identified as Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis)

Ancestors of domestic cats in Neolithic Central Europe: Isotopic evidence of a synanthropic diet

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