Editing Domestication of the cat (section)

== Archaeological evidence ==
Scientists also used archaeological and behavioral studies to help further solidify the discovery that ''F.s. lybica'' was the common ancestor to domesticated cats. Fragments of teeth and bone found at burial sites across the globe have all been connected by DNA analysis to ''F.s. lybica,'' some dating as far back as 7,000–8,000 years ago. Originally the Egyptian populations were credited with the early domestication of cats approximately 3,600 years ago but archaeological evidence also disputed the hypothesis in 2004.

In 2007, archaeologists working in Cyprus found an even older burial ground, a Neolithic site that is approximately 9,500 years old, of a child buried with a cat. Cats are not native to this area, which means the tribe must have brought the cats with them when they established residence on the island. This finding suggests that people from the Middle Eastern region of the Old World began keeping cats thousands of years earlier than the Egyptians.