- Wingnut, the pet cat of an archaeologist, demonstrated an uncanny ability to distinguish ancient artifacts from different time periods and determine whether a piece of flint was a genuine artifact or natural. During experiments, Wingnut would correctly identify the age of artifacts and rub his head against the correct one. - When challenged by a skeptical visitor, Wingnut was able to identify two pieces of flint provided as genuine artifacts, catching what humans had missed - they both showed signs of being worked by humans. - Wingnut passed away after many years but proved that cats had archaeological detection abilities long before specially trained dogs. The author argues Wingnut deserves recognition as the first "archaeology cat".

1. 'Wingnut' the archaeology cat
Originally posted online on 8 March 2013 at rmchapple.blogspot.com
(http://rmchapple.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/wingnut-archaeology-cat.html)
'Wingnut' in relaxed pose
I recently encountered the story of Migaloo, the black Labrador who has been trained to sniff
out human bones several centuries old. Australian dog trainer Gary Jackson, owner
of Multinational K9, has pulled off this remarkable feat and discovered a number of aboriginal
graves in South Australia, and hopes to assist in the recovery of bodies from WWII battlefields
in Europe. Inevitably, Migaloo is now being billed as ‘the world’s first archaeology dog’. I’m
sure he is, and I’m very happy for him. However, it will come as no surprise to pet owners that
cats got there first … and by quite a while!
When I was younger I did not particularly like cats – I had nothing against them, but I was
definitely not ‘a cat person’. That was right up until I was introduced to Wingnut. My wife
brought him home one day from a local animal shelter and he immediately set about being
furry and cute - and instantly won my heart. In short order, this was followed by him first
ridding our student accommodation of its rodent population, and then seeking out every
mouse on the entire terrace. We, of course, knew that he was talented – he could form himself
into all the various poses of an heraldic lion (rampant, passant, sejant, couchant, etc.) … well,
until you took your hand away and he legged it. There was also talk of him starring in a fully-
costumed, one-cat production of Les Misérables. Unfortunately, this plan was curtailed by my
inability to sew, sing, or operate a video camera without being clawed. Ah! What might have
been!
One day I was sorting some finds and, purely as a joke, I held up a piece of struck flint in one
hand and a sherd of 19th century pottery in the other. I looked at the cat and asked: “Wingnut,
which of these is older?” … he immediately went to the flint and rubbed his head against it –
this cat knew his archaeology! Over the coming months the experiment was repeated multiple
times with different artefacts and different questions – “which of these is younger” that type
of thing. He never once got the answer wrong! This continued for quite some time, becoming
something of a party trick and impressing all those who came in contact with it.

2. I think it was in late 2002, when I was
monitoring topsoil stripping at a site in Toome Co. Antrim, I had a few bags of Late Mesolithic
flint in the house when an acquaintance called. I showed him the flint to see if he could confirm
my dating of the pieces. Somewhere along the way the conversation turned to the fact that,
while his opinion was all very nice, it wasn’t necessary as I’d already had confirmation from
the cat. I explained that I’d held up a piece of flint to Wingnut and asked: “Wingnut, is this
Neolithic?”. He looked at the piece, but came no closer. When I asked: “Wingnut, is this
Mesolithic?” he looked again. This time, however, he came up close, sniffed it and then
signalled his assent by rubbing his head against it. My visitor was less than impressed and
muttered darkly about bias in the sample, the cat taking slight facial cues from me to ‘choose’
the correct answer etc. “Nonsense”, says I … “try it yourself and see”. Once again we went
through the tests of ‘which is older’, ‘which is younger’, ‘is this Bronze Age/Neolithic’ etc. Every
time he got it completely correct. My visitor, angry and perplexed at his apparent inability to
disprove my thesis, and the cat’s obvious talent, suggested a different question: could the cat
tell the difference between a genuine artefact and a natural piece of flint. Picking up two pieces
of flint, he held them up for feline inspection and asked: “Wingnut, which of these is a real
artefact?”. I’d never tried this test, so I was on tenterhooks wondering which way this would
go. In what feelt like a glacial expanse of time, the cat looked up, had a bit of a stretch, and
sniffed both pieces of flint. My heart was hammering in my chest as he took a second look at
both … and then stroked his head against the wrong one! … In that moment, my guest was
elated and I devastated … but it is only for a moment as he immediately went to rub his head
off the second piece of flint. He’d chosen both pieces, but this was little consolation to me and
detracted in no way from the heinous glee of our cynical visitor – the cat was wrong and the
100% track record was shattered. Except … as he placed the two pieces of flint back on the arm
of my couch, I notice something … I asked: “Er … that ‘natural’ piece you have there … is that
not a bulb of percussion at that end … right beside the striking platform” … Yes, the cat had
spotted what we had both missed – both pieces were genuine artefacts. 100% reputation
restored!
Fantastic, marvelous Cat: 1
Self-proclaimed flint 'expert' (now with rage issues): 0.

3. Wingnut passed away in 2007 after a long illness. Typically, he survived for over two years
after he’d been given six months to live by the vet, having been diagnosed with both kidney
failure and FIV. I wish Migaloo no ill-will, and do not contest the title of ‘archaeology dog’.
However, like the acknowledgement that Clément Ader achieved powered flight before the
Wright brothers, I think it appropriate that this uniquely-talented feline be given the place he
deserves in the annals of our discipline: 'Wingnut' - the archaeology cat!