A recent article in the Helsinki Times documents the close link between cats and humans going back thousands of years. Cats were used by man to keep rodents and other pests away and in return, the people would provide the cat with food and shelter.
In China, cat bones that are estimated to be nearly 5,000 years old were discovered in a village, and some say this is evidence of this human-cat relationship. Even more impressive is the discovery in Cypress of a burial site where both cat and human were buried together nearly 10,000 years ago with carved sea shells, demonstrating that this cat was no ordinary cat – it had special status in this village.
Continue reading the full article in the Helsinki Times to hear about ancient cats in Egypt and China.