17. A Mutually Beneficial Relationship Between Wildcats and Farmers
The chemical composition of the Quanhucun cats’ bones showed elevated levels of carbon-13, an isotope abundant in plants like millet. So the Quanhucun cats either ate rodents that fed on millet crops, or scavenged human food directly. That is early evidence of a commensal relationship: cats lived near humans and benefited from the food surplus, and in returns humans gained pest control.
Archaeological evidence shows that the farmers’ millet attracted rodents. Ceramic storage containers specially designed to keep rodents out of millet demonstrate that it was a serious pest infestation. Millet attracted rodents to the village, and rodents in turn attracted wildcats. Quanhucun’s residents saw the wildcats kill and eat the detested pests, so they tolerated, and probably encouraged, the felines’ presence in their villages. It was initially thought that, over time, the Chinese wildcats’ descendants could have become domesticated.
