Domestic cats have lived alongside human communities for thousands of years, hunting rats, mice, and other pests and serving as pets and a source of pelts and meat. Cats have received limited archaeological attention because their independence limits direct insight into human societies. An adult and juvenile cat recovered from the Emanuel Point wreck 2 (EP2) reflect what are, most likely, the earliest cats in what is now the United States. Zooarchaeological analyses of these and other archaeological cats in the Americas demonstrate that cats ranged substantially in size: some were comparable to modern house cats, and others were much smaller. Isotopic analyses of the adult cat from EP2 provides insight into early shipboard cat behavior and their diet, which appears to have focused on consumption of fish and possibly domestic meat. Cats accompanied sailors on ships where they were relied on to hunt rats and mice that were infesting ships’ holds. Interestingly, based on these isotopic results, the adult cat from EP2 does not seem to have relied heavily on rats as a source of food. These pests were unintentionally introduced to the New World, and cats would have followed, hunting both native and invasive pests.

家猫与人类社区一起生活了数千年，捕食老鼠、老鼠和其他害虫，并作为宠物和毛皮和肉类的来源。猫受到的考古关注有限，因为它们的独立性限制了对人类社会的直接洞察。从 Emanuel Point 沉船 2 （EP2） 中发现的一只成年猫和幼年猫很可能反映了现在美国最早的猫。对美洲这些猫和其他考古猫的动物考古学分析表明，猫的体型差异很大：有些与现代家猫相当，而另一些则小得多。EP2 中成年猫的同位素分析提供了对早期船上猫行为及其饮食的见解，这些饮食似乎集中在食用鱼和可能的家肉上。猫陪伴水手上船，在那里它们被用来捕食出没船舱的老鼠和老鼠。有趣的是，根据这些同位素结果，EP2 中的成年猫似乎并没有严重依赖大鼠作为食物来源。这些害虫无意中被引入新世界，猫会随之而来，捕食本地和入侵性害虫。