by Sevaan Franks on December 9, 2011
The remains of a mummified cat have been found bricked up behind a wall in Lancashire.
The site is close to the supposed location of Malkin Tower, a ruin whose name echoes the spectral witches’ cat Graymalkin in Macbeth. Three wizards and 17 witches were alleged to have plotted there to blow up Lancaster castle in 1612, to free an 85-year-old woman and her daughter accused of selling themselves to the devil.
History has never decided whether there was a genuine occult conspiracy or if terrified village herbalists were set upon for religious reasons or because of feuds.
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Story: Martin Wainwright, Guardian | Photo: Lorne Campbell/United Utilities/PA
by Sevaan Franks on May 26, 2009
Recent genetic and archaeological findings show that wildcats may have become house cats earlier, and in a different place, than previously thought.
It is by turns aloof and affectionate, serene and savage, endearing and exasperating. Despite its mercurial nature, however, the house cat is the most popular pet in the world. A third of American households have feline members, and more than 600 million cats live among humans worldwide. Yet as familiar as these creatures are, a complete understanding of their origins has proved elusive. Whereas other once wild animals were domesticated for their milk, meat, wool or servile labor, cats contribute virtually nothing in the way of sustenance or work to human endeavor. How, then, did they become commonplace fixtures in our homes?
Scholars long believed that the ancient Egyptians were the first to keep cats as pets, starting around 3,600 years ago. But genetic and archaeological discoveries made over the past five years have revised this scenario—and have generated fresh insights into both the ancestry of the house cat and how its relationship with humans evolved.
