Shimao DNA study: gate sacrifices mostly male, elite tomb victims mostly female

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Key facts

• Near the eastern gate of Shimao, a large stone-walled settlement in northern China, archaeologists found more than 80 human skulls; the city flourished roughly 2300-1800 BCE.
• The skull deposits are interpreted as human sacrifices associated with the gate, with human heads placed at the city's entrance.
• A new study used ancient DNA to investigate relationships across Shimao and neighbouring sites, including people buried as sacrificial victims in elite tombs.
• Nine of the 10 sampled gate victims were male, and three individuals previously classified as female were found to be male.
• Elite burials showed a contrasting pattern: in one cemetery six of seven sampled victims were female and unrelated to the tomb owner, and in another elite area 14 of 19 were female, some related to one another but not to the person they accompanied.
• The team interpreted the contrast as evidence that sex helped determine who was sacrificed in different ritual settings.
• The DNA study reconstructed family connections among the wider population, including elite pedigrees spanning several generations, supporting a society organised predominantly around descent through men and inherited status, with exceptions where wealthy women also occupied tombs with sacrificial victims.
• The gate victims were not a genetically distinct group of outsiders; most shared ancestry with local or regional populations, although one showed a different ancestry signal.
• Unlike elite tomb burials, the gate sacrifices are interpreted as part of a construction ritual intended to protect the gate, though how the victims were chosen remains unknown.

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