1,200-Year-Old Paw Prints Reveal The Oldest Evidence Of This Feline Behavior
There is nothing quite as endearing as the sight of a happy cat pressing its paws into the closest object or even your lap, rhythmically massaging away as if it is kneading dough.
Archaeologists in Jerusalem have discovered the earliest known evidence of this kneading behavior in the form of prints on a 1,200-year-old piece of clay.
The cat’s kneading marks were an accidental discovery. During an excavation project at Mount Zion, the laboratory director, Gretchen Cotter, had been examining artifacts collected from outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem when she noticed something peculiar.
One of the pottery shards, which was from a clay jug, appeared to have claw marks. The clay piece contained the imprints of a cat’s foreleg, toe pads, and grooves, indicating that the feline was extending and retracting its claws.
“The paw print itself had a measurement of around [1.2 square inches], and the claw markings were still evident, cut deeply into the clay,” said Shimon Gibson, the co-director of the archaeological project and a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
When looking at the claw marks, it was clear that the cat started kneading the clay while it had been left out to dry, perhaps on a windowsill.
According to the paw print, the cat was likely lying down next to the clay piece that was used for the curved edge of the jug. It is possible that the cat had started to fall from its resting spot and swiped at the clay in order to catch itself.
Or, it may have been leaping from place to place and landed on the jug for a brief time. But the most plausible explanation seems to be that the animal was feeling happy, safe, and relaxed, so it started doing the kneading behavior on the closest object.
The kneading behavior is often referred to as “making biscuits.” Cats knead for a number of reasons, including to show affection, mark their territory, and get comfortable.
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Kneading also takes them back to their kitten days when they would knead their mothers for milk. Experts say it brings them comfort and helps them release tension.
It may be the first time that evidence of an ancient kneading cat has been found, but it certainly isn’t the only instance where animals have left their marks on artifacts.
For example, in 2014, paw prints and hoof prints were discovered on Roman-era tiles in England. Then, in 2017, paw prints made by a cat were detected on the remains of a roof from the Roman period.
More recently, in 2023, dog paw prints were identified at a 1,900-year-old Roman settlement in Romania. These differ from the cat prints in Jerusalem because they all feature animals running rather than one stretched out in relaxation.
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