### id468923543 cats arrived in Europe before farming > [Cats Trash Theory That They Followed First Farmers to Europe](https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2022-11-09/ty-article/cats-trash-theory-that-they-followed-first-farmers-to-europe/00000184-573f-dc83-a7fd-ff7fac710000) — In true cat fashion, ancient cats have pushed a theory right off the table, breaking it to pieces. All domestic cats are descended from the African wildcat, and it was thought that these cats followed the first farmers to Europe from the Near East. But it turns out that the cats got to Europe first. A new study used palaeogenetics, zooarchaeology, and carbon dating to date the remains of roughly 200 ancient cats, and they found that African wildcats were in Poland 8,000 years ago — centuries before farming reached Poland, and 1,500 years earlier than previously thought. Perhaps they spread with traders instead of farmers, or perhaps they actually had more range than we thought. Cats never truly got domesticated, but they started hanging out with us during the Neolithic Revolution in the Near East around 10,000 years ago. Makes sense. Farming = surpluses = mice = cats. The article talks a lot about the history of cats, so if you’re a cat lover, check it out. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01grbza13a1xady5a76zryre9y) - [[🧐 Ancient Beat 37 Ancient Cats, Mile-Long Tunnels, and Protective Tattoos by James Fleischmann#id468923543 cats arrived in Europe before farming|View in Vault]] - [n] useful for [[domestication]] and maybe a #articleseed/overviewTopic/cats