Viking cats?? The origins and spread of cats

[packman]

Apparently Egypt was a late player in the "domestication" of cats. DNA suggest cats/humans had a relationship several thousand years before they became worshipped as Gods in the land of the pyramids.



"A 9,500-year-old human burial from Cyprus also contained the remains of a cat1. This suggests that the affiliation between people and felines dates at least as far back as the dawn of agriculture, which occurred in the nearby Fertile Crescent beginning around 12,000 years ago. Ancient Egyptians may have tamed wild cats some 6,000 years ago"

"Sea-faring people probably kept cats to keep rodents in check, says Geigl, whose team also found cat remains with this maternal DNA lineage at a Viking site dating to between the eighth and eleventh century ad in northern Germany"

http://www.nature.com/news/how-cats-conquered-the-world-and-a-few-viking-ships-1.20643

[Warpy]

1. Cats had likely been hanging around us for thousands of years

We were messy eaters who not only dropped tasty bones, we also attracted their prey. The cats were encouraged because they kept the rodent population down far enough to be tolerable.

As we moved into permanent settlements with grain storage, the cats became absolutely vital and we started to welcome them indoors.

It's no surprise to me that some cultures worshiped them. I fall short of that, but I have to say there's nothing more comfy than spending a snowy day indoors with a mug of cocoa by your side and a kitty snoozing in your lap.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. Of course.

http://syntheticx.com/archive/2012/04/viking-kittens-returns

[csziggy]

4. Shoot - you're faster than I am! nt

[awoke_in_2003]

7. That is what I thought of

when I read the title. I learned of them via rathergood.com

[csziggy]

3. That calls for this Viking Kittens flash video!

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/80133

[Fix The Stupid]

5. I have a viking cat :)

She's a Norwegian Forest Cat

"Its ancestors may include black and white shorthair cats brought to Norway from Great Britain some time after 1000 AD by the Vikings, "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Forest_cat

She's amazing...full of character.

[progressoid]

6. My mother-in-law had one of those too!

She was a great cat.

Unfortunately had a heart defect and unexpectedly died in the middle of the night.

[rusty fender]

8. LOL the Viking cat's skull necklace