Women and men were both sacrificed in ancient China – but for different reasons
Archaeologists have found evidence of a highly gendered Stone Age society in China around 3,800 to 4,300 years ago, with male and female sacrificial victims chosen for distinct purposes.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found that elite burials in a large Stone Age settlement in northwest China often had women who were ritually sacrificed – thousands of years earlier than previously thought.
The study also provided the first evidence of mass burials of men associated with human sacrifice in the region.
Archaeologists suspect that ancient society performed two types of human sacrifice: one involving mass burials of men that might serve public ritual purposes, and another accompanying high-ranking burials in which female victims were buried with the dead.
They found evidence that the Chinese archaeological site of Shimao, in northern Shaanxi province, is a Late Stone Age settlement, home to a hierarchical society that followed gender norms.
“These results reveal a predominantly patrilineal descent structure within Shimao communities and possibly gender-specific sacrificial rituals,” the scientists wrote in the study published in the journal. Nature.
Carved stone in Shimao City (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology)
The stone-walled settlement covering an area of approximately 4 km2 (1.5 square miles) had distinct zones, with archaeological evidence pointing to hierarchical social organization and gender bias in the way ancient people performed human sacrifices.
Previous research has highlighted a level of organization in the habitat typical of state societies, including sites of artisanal production as well as areas with large fortifications.
In the latest study, scientists evaluated DNA data from 169 human remains as well as several others found at seven archaeological sites in Shaanxi and neighboring Shanxi province.
By comparing the DNA of the remains, researchers found that the Shimao people were primarily descended from local groups who inhabited the area around 1,000 years earlier.
Tomb owner and sacrificed victim (IVPP)
The latest findings also challenge long-held assumptions about the gender of the sacrificial victims at the Shimao East Gate.
Contrary to previous theories that most sacrificed humans were female, genetic evidence showed that 9 out of 10 burials at the site were male.
Scientists discovered a clear gender pattern in the way human sacrifices were carried out.
Male sacrifices were concentrated at the East Gate, while female sacrificial remains were mainly linked to elite cemeteries.
This reveals that Shimao sacrificial practices were highly structured, with gender-specific roles linked to distinct ritual purposes and locations.
Shimao City Landscape (IVPP)
The phenomenon of elites buried alongside sacrificed companions was only observed in China thousands of years later, at the beginning of the Iron Age, between 770 and 221 BC.
Researchers also discovered close genetic connections between the Shimao people and southern rice-growing communities, highlighting the extensive interactions between prehistoric agricultural and pastoral communities in ancient China.
They hope that further study in the region could help better understand the origins of the early East Asian states.
