Cat Tales

Interpretation of the Gran Quivira Complex. Illustration by Eva Vazquez.

Gran Quivira unit of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument was a vast city, with multiple pueblos and kivas. Mound 7 was the largest pueblo at the site. It had 226 rooms dating to A.D.1275/1300-1600. Spanish colonists in the 1600s established missions on the pueblo sites. In 1629, construction began on the first permanent mission at Gran Quivira, at Mound 7.

Archeologists found skeletal remains of a gato (cat) at San Buenaventura, a church within the mission at Gran Quivira. The gato, they said, was most likely there to get rid of mice (critters full of disease!).

Humans have domesticated animals for thousands of years. Domestication means taming animals through generations of breeding and behavioral changes to live with humans. The skeletons of domesticated animals look different from wild animals. For example, they tend to have smaller skulls and teeth.

Although they are different species, what differences or similarities do you see between a domestic cat skull and a wild lion skull? Click on the names of the animals to look at a model of their skulls.