Could these cool creatures achieve maximum power by taming themselves?
Eman Kazemi/Alami
Cat Tales: History
Jerry D. Moore, Thames & Hudson
One weekend I saw one of the house cats, a Byronic man named Solomon, maul my sister under the guise of play, vomit on my sheets, and polish a golden comb in front of my bird-loving father. And yet we forgave Solomon, because we had nothing to envy him or his sister. This is the cognitive dissonance of cat lovers.
Domestic cats (Cat) are among the most popular pets in the world. But it is unclear why people sought to domesticate them – if they can be said to have been domesticated at all. How did we come to love them in all their forms, especially when so many species throughout history have considered humans their prey?
The roots of this question are ancient, as archaeologist Jerry D. Moore shows in his work. Cat Tales: History. However, more important than this “historical” subtitle is another piece of accompanying text: “How we learned to live with them.” It is unclear whether this is from the perspective of a human or a disgruntled house cat; either way, the book is less a study of our feline friends and more a portrait of the evolving relationship between our species.
History of domestication of cats It is said that once humans built permanent settlements and stored grain, mice began to devour our hard-won supplies, luring African wild cats (Libyan cat). A lucrative arrangement arose in which the people kept their grain and the cats got a free lunch.
However, Moore says, the truth is more complex. Domestication usually involves breeding a species for a specific purpose, something that only emerged in cats in the last 100 years or so when we began to desire a particular appearance or exotic qualities. Cattle farming is another common reason for domestication, although the old cat joke comes to mind.
Mutualism is a more useful lens for examining our relationship with cats, Moore argues. Even so, cats tend to be fickle and aloof, and their mousing abilities are equal to or even superior to other animals – dogs such as terriers, for example. Showing confidence, the cats seem to have settled into a comfortable position in human homes – in other words, they have become self-tamed.
Moore makes a clever connection between the prominence of big cats in ancient rock art and their central role in public outreach campaigns by conservation groups. 2018 study found that big cats were consistently ranked as the most charismatic animals.
Moore also names cats as some of history's greatest seafarers, traveling alongside African and Arab sailors along trade routes to Asia and the Mediterranean. Their subsequent voyages aboard European colonial ships wreaked havoc in places such as Australia and New Zealand, whose fauna fell prey to feral cats.
Moore's writing flows brilliantly at times, but there are also confusing sections that dull the book's impact. Take one of the first passages about hominin tool use concepts in the 20th century. It is unclear why Moore included this concept until the end of the chapter, when he argues that the portrayal of ancient humans as extremely capable hunters has led us to downplay the power of ancient cats—as our ancestors' top predators, they shaped the development of our bodies and brains.
cat-human relationship They were perhaps more varied than our connections to any other animal, Moore says: “Cats were agents of terror and objects of adoration, revered in religious ceremonies and brutally killed.” for fun“.
For me, Cat Tales doesn't contain much new information, but is an excellent overview of the archaeological discoveries, coupled with excellent photography. Even if cats remain a little mysterious after reading this book, that's probably why they like it.
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