Pinpointing when animals became our companions is harder than it sounds. Every fossil find and genetic study tweaks what we think we know about the timeline or the circumstances under which domestication occurred. When it comes to cats, the story is still evolving. Scientists continue to debate where and how our feline friends first went from wild hunters to household companions.
For a long time, ancient Egypt was thought to be the starting point — home of cat worship, divine felines, and famous mummified remains. But that idea was shaken by the discovery of a more-than 9,000-year-old grave on the island of Cyprus, where a cat was buried alongside a human. The age of the burial predates any known Egyptian records, hinting that cat domestication could have begun somewhere else.
In a pair of preprint studies posted in March 2025 to bioRxiv, European researchers recently revisited this question — and introduced a gruesome theory: maybe cats were first tamed not to be pets, but to be sacrificed.
European Wildcats and the Cyprus Find
The 9,500-year-old cat buried in Cyprus sparked theories that European wildcats could be the original ancestors of domestic cats. Some researchers thought these animals may have followed early farmers, gradually becoming tamer as they adapted to life around humans.
To explore that possibility, one study led by Sean Doherty from the University of Exeter compared bone measurements of the Cyprus cat with bones from known wild and domestic cats across Europe. The results showed that the Cyprus cat was a European wildcat — no more closely related to modern domestic cats than the African wildcat is.
To double-check, the other study led by Claudio Ottoni, a paleogeneticist at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, analyzed the cat’s nuclear DNA. His team confirmed the same result: the remains belonged to a wildcat. That meant the Cyprus find likely wasn’t an early domestic cat after all.
Read More: Cats Ruled These 4 Ancient Civilizations
Ancient Egypt and Cat Mummies
Genetic analysis still points to the North African wildcat as the closest living relative to today’s domestic cat. Egyptian cat mummies dating from 500 to 0 B.C.E. remain the oldest confirmed examples of domesticated cats, reinforcing Egypt’s claim as the domestication hub.
The usual explanation is that cats were drawn to human settlements by rodents, then gradually grew friendlier and stuck around. But it could be that cats were tamed incidentally as part of a large-scale religious industry. In ancient Egypt, people worshipped Bastet, a goddess often depicted with feline features. Mummified cats were common ritual offerings, and to meet demand, breeding centers were created to raise cats for sacrifice.
Raising large numbers of cats in close quarters would have favored individuals that were more tolerant of people and other animals. Over time, this could have created a population of cats that were more docile and social than their wild ancestors.
Egyptian Sacrifice?
Not all experts are sold on the sacrifice theory, with some arguing that the Cyprus cat might still have been in the early stages of domestication. That leaves open the possibility that Europe played a role after all. What’s more, other feline finds in Egypt have suggested that domestication had occurred or was at least in progress centuries before mass mummification practices began.
So, did cats become our companions through cozy coexistence — or through cultish mass breeding and ritual death? The answer is still unfolding. What’s clear is that once domesticated, cats spread quickly — likely aided by Roman expansion — and now enjoy global popularity, with nearly a billion living among us.
Read More: We’ve Relied on These 5 Animals Throughout History
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
Having worked as a biomedical research assistant in labs across three countries, Jenny excels at translating complex scientific concepts – ranging from medical breakthroughs and pharmacological discoveries to the latest in nutrition – into engaging, accessible content. Her interests extend to topics such as human evolution, psychology, and quirky animal stories. When she’s not immersed in a popular science book, you’ll find her catching waves or cruising around Vancouver Island on her longboard.
