An ancient DNA study by Dr Yu Han et al., published in Cell Genomics on November 27, 2025, reveals that domestic cats arrived in China relatively late-likely introduced by Silk Road merchants around 1,400 years ago-after more than 3,500 years of human-leopard cat commensalism.

This study is based on the research conducted by Yu Han during their DPhil Archaeological Science here at the School, completing in 2023. 

In the BBC - Cats became our companions way later than you think