Domestic cats (Felis catus) in Denmark have increased significantly in size since the Viking Age
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1080/21662282.2018.1546420Keywords:
Felis catus, domestic cat, size increase, Middle Age, Viking AgeAbstract
The earliest finds of domestic cat in Denmark date back to the Roman Iron Age (c. 1–375 AD). Initially, cats occurred sparsely and only from the Viking Age (c. 850–1050 AD) did they become more frequent in numbers, though primarily in urban contexts and in connection with fur production. In medieval times, cats became beasts of pest control in rural settlements, manorial estates as well as in the expanding towns, where large and numerous refuse heaps attracted various rodents. To investigate size trends over time of the domestic cat (Felis catus) in Denmark, bone measurements and statistical analyses were performed on archaeological and modern material. Domestic cats were found to increase significantly in size over time since the Viking Age. Limb bones and mandibles exhibited the most significant change in increase (up to 16%), as compared to modern female cats, and tooth size the least (c. 5.5%). The most plausible explanations for such a size increase were improved living conditions caused by increased food availability and a possible shift in human usage of the cats, from a rat and mice captor to a well-fed and well-cared pet. Despite the observed increase in size, domestic cats have kept many osteological features indistinguishable from their wild progenitor.
References
Aaris-Sørensen, K., 1998. Danmarks Forhistoriske Dyreverden. København: Gyldendal.
Benecke, N., 1994. Der Mensch und seine Haustiere. Stuttgart: Konrad Theiss Verlag, GmbH & Co.
Bergmann, C., 1847. Über die Verhältnisse der Wärmeökonomie der Thiere zu ihrer Grösse. Göttinger Studien, 3 (1), 595-708.
Clutton-Brock, J., 1999. A natural history of domesticated mammals. 2nd. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Clutton-Brock, J., 2012. Animals as Domesticates: a world view through history. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan State University Press.
Damm, J.G., 2000. Vildkatten, Felis silvestris silvestris, og dens historie og udbredelse i Skandinavien i den postglaciale tid. Unpublished thesis. University of Copenhagen.
Davis, S.J.M. and Valla, F., 1978. Evidence for domestication of the dog 12,000 years ago in the Natufian of Israel. Nature, 276, 608-610. https://doi.org/10.1038/276608a0
Degerbøl, M., 1933. Danmarks Pattedyr i Fortiden. Videnskabelige Meddelelser fra dansk naturhistorisk Forening, 96. Festskrift II. København.
Driscoll, C.A., et al., 2009. The taming of the cat. Genetic and archaeological findings hint that wildcats became housecats earlier-and in a different place-than previously thought. Scientific American, 300 (6), 68-75. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0609-68
Driscoll, C.A., et al., 2007. The near eastern origin of cat domestication. Science, 317 (5837), 519-523. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1139518
Engels, D.W., 2001. Classical cats: the rise and fall of the sacred cat. 1st. London: Routledge.
Enghoff, I.B., 2006. Pattedyr og fugle fra markedspladsen i Ribe, ASR 9 Posthuset. C. Feveile and S. Ribe ed. Det ældste Ribe: udgravninger på nordsiden af Ribe Å 1984-2000. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter Bind 1.1 167-187.
Enghoff, I.B., 2015. Kgs. Nytorv Z.M.K. 19/2011; KBM 3829 - the animal bones. Report in ArchaeoScience 10. Copenhagen: University of Copenhagen, Natural History Museum of Denmark.
Ewing, E., 1981. Fur in dress. London: Batsford. Faure, E. and Kitchener, A.C., 2009. An archaeological and historical review of the relationships between felids and people. Athrozoös, 22 (3), 221-238. https://doi.org/10.2752/175303709X457577
French, D.D., Corbett, L.K., and Easterbee, N., 1988. Morphological discriminants of Scottish wildcats (Felis silvestris), domestic cats (F. catus) and their hybrids. Journal of Zoology, 214 (2), 235-259. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1988.tb04719.x
Gotfredsen, A.B., 2017. Animal sacrifices and deposits in inhumation graves of the roman iron age in Zealand and Funen, Eastern Denmark. In: L. Boye, P. Ethelberg, and U. Lund Hansen, eds. Wealth and Prestige 2. Animal sacrifices and deposits in inhumation graves of the roman iron age in Zealand and Funen, Eastern Denmark. Taastrup: Kroppedal Museum, Studier i Astronomi, Nyere Tid, Arkæologi IV, 13-268.
Grigson, C., 1969. The uses and limitations of differences in absolute size in the distinction between the bones of aurochs (Bos primigenius) and domestic cattle (Bos taurus). In: P.J. Ucko and G.W. Dimbleby, eds. The domestication and exploitation of plants and animals. London: Duckworth, 277-294.
Grigson, C., 1989. Size and sex: evidence for the domestication of cattle in the Near East. In: A. Miller, D. Williams, and N. Bardner, eds. The beginnings of agriculture. Oxford: British Archaeological Report International Series 496, 77-109.
Hansen, K.L., 2017. Animal bones from medieval deposits in Læderstræde, Roskilde - a zooarchaeological analysis. Unpublished thesis. University of Copenhagen.
Hatting, T., 1990. Cats from Viking Age Odense. Journal of Danish Archaeology, 9, 179-193. https://doi.org/10.1080/0108464X.1990.10590042
Hatting, T., 1991. The Archaeozoology. In: M. Bencard, L. Bender Lørgensen, and H.B. Madsen, eds. Ribe Excavations 1970-76 Volume 3. Esbjerg: Sydjysk Universitetsforlag, 43-57.
Hatting, T., 1994. The animal bones from the refuse layer at Lundeborg. In: P.O. Nielsen, K. Randsborg, and H. Thrane, eds. The archaeology of Gudme and Lundeborg, October 1991 Svendborg. København: Akademisk Forlag, 94-97.
Hatting, T., 1998. Dyreknogler. J. Hjermind,M. Iversen, and H. K. Kristensen, eds. Viborg Søndersø 1000-1300. Byarkæologiske undersøgelser. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter Bind 34, 301-308.
Hatting, T., 2004. Husdyrene. In: E. Roesdahl, ed. Dagligliv i Danmarks middelalder. En arkæologisk kulturhistorie. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 110-122.
Jansen, H.M., Hatting, T., and Sørensen, I., 1988. Svendborg in the middle ages - an interdisciplinary investigation. Journal of Danish Archaeology, 6 (1), 198-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/0108464X.1987.10589987
Jensen, M.L., 2006. Kastrup-fundet ved Gram i Sønderjylland - en fyrstelig grav fra ældre romersk jernalder? Arkæologi i Slesvig, 11, 45-58.
Johansson, F. and Hüster, H., 1987. Untersuchungen an Skelettresten von Katzen aus Haithabu (Ausgrabung 1966- 1996). Berichte über die Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 24. Neumünster: Karl Wachholtz Verlag.
Jones, E.P., et al., 2013. Genetic tracking of mice and other bioproxies to infer human history. Trends in Genetics, 29 (5), 298-308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2012.11.011
Jørgensen, A.B., 1992. NÆM j.1992:200 - Almosen ved Tyvelse. Beretning vedr. indledende undersøgelse af offerplads og formodet vejanlæg fra yngre stenalder - bronzealder - ældre jernalder. Næstved Museum.
Kitchener, A., 1991. The natural history of th e wild cats. Ithaca, N.Y.: Comstock Pub. Associates, Cornell University Press.
Knospe, C., 1988. Sex dimorphism in the skull of the cat. Anatomischer Anzeiger, 167, 199-204.
Kratochvíl, Z., 1973. Schädelkritieren der Wild- und Hauskatze (Felis silvestris silvestris Schreb. 1777 und F. s. f. catus L. 1758). Acta Scientiarium Naturalium Brno, 7 (10), 1-50.
Kratochvíl, Z., 1976. Das Postkranialskelett der Wild- und Hauskatze (Felis silvestris und F. lybica F. catus). Acta Scientiarium Naturalium, 10 (6), 1-43.
Kratochvíl, Z., 1977. Die Unterscheidung Postkranialer Merkmalspaare Bei Felis s. silvestris und F. lybica F. catus (Mammalia). Folia Zoologica, 26 (2), 115-128.
Kveiborg, J., 2007a. Zooarkæologisk gennemgang af knoglemateriale fra OBM 4399, Gyngstruplund, NØ (FHM 4296/ 372). Rapport fra Konserverings- og naturvidenskabelig afdeling. Moesgård Museum.
Kveiborg, J., 2007b. Knogler af pattedyr og fugl fra Seden Syd (OBM 9882). En zooarkæologisk gennemgang af udvalgte dyreknogler fra OBM 9882 Seden syd indsamlet i årene 2001-2004. Konserverings- og naturvidenskabelig afdeling. Rapport Nr. 2, Moesgård Museum. Available from: https://www.moesgaardmuseum.dk/media/1408/moes0702.pdf
Meadow, R.H., 1989. Osteological evidence for the process of animal domestication. In: J. Clutton-Brock, ed. The walking larder: patterns of domestication, pastoralism, and predation. London: Unwin Hyman, 80-90. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315746456-11
Møhl, U., 1961. Oversigt over dyreknogler fra Næsholm. In: V. La Cour, ed. Næsholm. København: Nationalmuseet, 364-429.
Møhl, U., 1971. Et knoglemateriale fra Vikingetid og Middelalder i Århus. Husdyrene og den vilde fauna. In: H.H. Andersen, P.J. Crabb, and H.J. Madsen, eds. Århus Søndervold. En byarkæologisk undersøgelse. Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter 9. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 321-329.
Møhl, U., 2010. Dyreknogler fra Næsbyholm Storskov. En plads fra ældre romersk Jernalder. In: V. Nielsen, ed. Oldtidsagre i Danmark - Sjælland, Møn og Lolland- Falster Vol. 71. Jysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag, 259-273.
Nyegaard, G., 1998. Faunalevn fra bronzealder. En Zooarkæologisk undersøgelse af sydskandinaviske bopladsfund. Unpublished PhD thesis. Zoologisk Museums Kvartærzoologiske Undersøgelser, University of Copenhagen.
O'Connor, T.P., 2007. Wild or domestic? Biometric variation in the Cat Felis Silvestris Schreber. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, 17 (6), 581-595. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.913
O'Connor, T.P., 2008. The archaeology of animal bones. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press.
Østergaard, S., 2016. ÅHM 6023, Postgården VI (FHM 4296/ 1324). Analyse af knoglemateriale fra jernalderbebyggelse. Konserverings- og naturvidenskabelig afdeling. Rapport Nr. 29, Moesgaard Museum. Available from: https://www.moesgaardmuseum.dk/media/3612/moes_1629.pdf
Ottoni, C., et al., 2017. The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1 (7), 0139. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0139
Petrov, I., Nikolov, H., and Gerasimov, S., 1992. Craniometrical sex determination of wild cat Felis silvestris in Bulgaria. Acta Theriologica, 37 (4), 381-396. https://doi.org/10.4098/0001-7051
Pitakarnnop, T., et al., 2017. Feline (Felis catus) Skull and pelvic morphology and morphometry: gender-related difference? Anatomia Histologia Embryologia, 46 (3), 294- 303. https://doi.org/10.1111/ahe.2017.46.issue-3
Rantzau, D., 2015. Migration, morphology and archaeological history of the black rat (Rattus rattus) and brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) in Denmark. Unpublished thesis. University of Copenhagen.
Steineke, M. and Jensen, J.J., 2017. Kongens Nytorv Metro Cityring Project, KBM 3829, Øster Kvarter, Københavns Sogn, Sokkelund Herred, Københavns Amt. Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen, j.nr.: 2010- 7.24.02/KBM-0017. København: Københavns Museum, Museum of Copenhagen.
Tchernov, E., 1984. Commensal animals and human sedentism in the Middle East. In: J. Clutton-Brock and C. Grigson, eds. Animals and archaeology: early herders and their flocks. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports International Series 202, 911.
Tchernov, E. and Horwitz, L.K., 1991. Body size diminution under domestication: unconscious selection in primeval domesticates. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 10, 54-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-4165(91)90021-O
Tom-Tov, Y., 2003. Body sizes of carnivores commensal with humans have increased over the past 50 years. Functional Ecology, 17 (3), 323-327. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2435.2003.00735.x
Tom-Tov, Y., et al., 2009. Body size in Eurasian lynx in Sweden: dependence on prey availability. Polar Biology, 33 (4), 505-513. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0728-9
Tom-Tov, Y., et al., 2008. Temperature trends and recent decline in body size of the stone marten, Martes foina, in Denmark. Mammalian Biology, 75, 146-150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2008.10.005
Tom-Tov, Y., Tom-Tov, S., and Baagøe, H.J., 2003. Increase of skull size in the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and Eurasian badger (Meles meles) in Denmark during the twentieth century: an effect of improved diet? Evolutionary Ecology Research, 5 (7), 1037-1048.
Van Neer, W., et al., 2014. More evidence for cat taming at the Predynastic elite cemetery of Hierakonpolis (Upper Egypt). Journal of Archaeological Science, 45, 103-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2014.02.014
Vigne, J.-D., 2015. Early domestication and farming: what should we know or do for a better understanding? Anthropozoologica, 50 (2), 123-150. https://doi.org/10.5252/az2015n2a5
Vigne, J.-D., et al., 2004. Early taming of the cat in Cyprus. Science, 304 (5668), 259. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1095335
von den Driesch, A., 1976. A guide to the measurement of animal bones from archaeological sites. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, Peabody Museum Bulletins.
Zohary, D., Tchernov, E., and Horwitz, L.K., 1991. The role of unconscious selection in the domestication of sheep and goats. Journal of Zoology,
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Counting from volume 11 (2022), articles published in DJA are licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). The editorial board may accept other Creative Commons licenses for individual articles, if required by funding bodies e.g. the European Research Council. With the publication of volume 11, authors retain copyright to their articles and give DJA the right to the first publication. The authors retain copyright to earlier versions of the articles, such as the submitted and the accepted manuscript.
Articles in volume 1-8 are not licensed under Creative Commons. In these volumes, all rights are reserved to DJA. This implies that readers can download, read, and link to the articles, but they cannot republish the articles. Authors can upload their articles in an institutional repository as a part of a green open access policy.
Articles in volume 9-10 are not licensed under Creative Commons. In these volumes, all rights are reserved to the authors of the articles respectively. This implies that readers can download, read, and link to the articles, but they cannot republish the articles. Authors can upload their articles in an institutional repository.
