Redefining the timing and circumstances of cat domestication, their dispersal trajectories, and the extirpation of European wildcats

Despite the domestic cat's (Felis catus) close association with humans, the timing and circumstances of its domestication and subsequent introduction to Europe are unresolved. Domestication of its wild progenitor, the African wildcat (F. lybica), is widely attributed to the emergence of farming. Wildcats are said to have been attracted to settled communities by the rodent populations that were thriving within this new agricultural niche. Some claim the African wildcat even reached Europe during the Neolithic, though many credit the Romans with their dispersal. Through a program of zooarchaeological analysis, genetic identification and radiocarbon dating, we redefine the established chronology for the cat's domestication and dispersal across Europe. We argue that early human-cat relationships were more complex than the commensal and mutualistic pathways that have been proposed, and that both the domestication and translocation of cats were linked to its association with deities. Our results suggest domestic cats first arrived in Europe prior to Roman expansion during the early first millennium BCE, and that successive populations of domestic cats with unique mitochondrial signatures were introduced during the Roman, Late Antique and Viking periods. Lastly, by characterising the spatiotemporal representation of both domestic cats and the native European wildcat (F. silvestris), we argue that the introduction of domestic cats precipitated a decline in native European wildcat populations.