In the Mews By JeffyJeffyBadBoy
COPENHAGEN, Denmark There’s a rule of thumb in the archaeology world. When humans domesticate animals, they shrink (the animals, not the human.) But that’s not true of yours truly (meaning we kitties) and Viking cats.
The average dog has withered down about 25% from its wild ancestor the gray wolf since they teamed up with humans. But between the age of Vikings and today, we kitties have grown in size. Bite me, Fideaux.
Julie Bitz-Thorsen, of Arctic University of Norway and archaeozoologist Anne Birgitte Gotfredsen of the University of Copenhagen, recently published their study, “Domestic cats (Felis catus) in Denmark have increased significantly in size since the Viking Age” in the December edition of Danish Journal of Archaeology.
Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Viking Cat Bones
Bitz-Thorsen Sifted through dozens of bags filled with dog, horse, cow to find cat bones from archaeological digs all over Denmark. The cat skulls, femurs, tibias, and other bones ranged more than 2000 years, dating from the late Bronze Age (3000 BC – 1200 BC) to the 1600s. Many of the remains came from Viking era mass graves. The bags of bones were a real score since kitty bones don’t show up at archaeological sites very often.
Bitz-Thorsen separated all the cat bones to see how Iron Age, Viking, and medieval cats differed from we modern kitties.
The study found that, unlike other domesticated animals that shrink over time, domestic cats have grown 16% over time. (Maybe in a few thousand years we’ll be elephant size. Woohoo. Look out wildebeests.)
Skulls from ancient and modern Danish house kitties show how cats have grown over 2000 years. (Viking cat skulls in upper right corner, modern cats lower right corner).
This study only looked at Danish cats, so it may not apply to feline brothers in other parts of the world. On the other paw, a similar 1987 study out of Germany also came to the conclusion that medieval domestic cats were smaller than we modern kitties.
Who Knows Why?
No one knows conclusively why we’ve expanded, but finer dining is the best guess. (Humans have gotten taller over the last few centuries for the same reason.)
Our feline ancestors, Near Eastern wildcats, hunted hard to bring home the bacon. So, when human communities appeared, we moved in cuz mice liked your crops and your trash. Sometimes your garbage had some tasty treats for us too. Eventually, we endeared ourselves so much, you humans fed us. Scorrrrrre.
So, better nutrition allows us to get bigger. Genes could contribute to our physical expansion project too.
So, a warning to all the pooches out there, in about 10,000 years, you’re going to be OUR prey. Until then…uh oh. Gotta go. Human’s opening a can.
About the author
JeffyJeffy BadBoy is a rescued kitten with a nose for news. His unique talent has qualified him to be the official journalist for Stupid Gravity Press. Follow Jeffy’s Daily Mews on Facebook and Instagram.
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