Anatolia in the previous hypothesis
The 2017 interpretation based on mitochondrial DNA proposed ancient routes of dispersal of feline lineages through the Mediterranean.2
The presence of cats near Neolithic settlements in central Europe was described as commensal ecology; it was not a direct test of domestic house cats.3
Genomic review
Whole genome analysis published in 2025 questions an explanation based on a Neolithic dispersal of the ancestry of modern domestic cats to Europe.1
The early Anatolian samples discussed in that review do not by themselves establish the existence of Neolithic domestic cats.1
The Balatlar cat
The 2021 study describes a cat skeleton found in the excavation of the Balatlar church, in Sinop, as an archaeological case from the Byzantine era.4
This animal retains contextual value for its site, but it is an individual and not a sample of all Anatolian cats.4
From the archaeological case to the present
Uncertainty about source populations and dispersal routes persists even after the 2025 genomic correction.1
A skeleton from Balatlar and a dispersion hypothesis do not allow us to conclude what all the cats in Türkiye are like or describe a current culture in Istanbul.41