Ancient DNA is revealing new details about the people who lived at Shimao, one of China’s most important Late Neolithic settlements. The survey results are naturerevealing the origins, family relationships, and social organization of populations. They also identified genetic links to communities further south and provided evidence that mass burials associated with human sacrifice at the site included primarily men.
The project was led by Professor Qiaomei Fu from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences. Researchers from the Shaanxi Academy of Archeology and several other institutions also contributed to the study.
Over a period of 13 years, the research team conducted a large-scale, high-resolution analysis of nuclear DNA from 169 ancient hominin samples (144 unrelated individuals). Bodies were unearthed from Shimao, nearby ruins, and locations in southern Shanxi province.
A vast walled village in ancient China
Shimao dates back approximately 4200 to 3700 years and is located in the northern Shaanxi province of China. The huge stone-walled settlement, covering approximately 4 square kilometers, was divided into separate functional areas.
Archaeological evidence shows that Shimao had a strong hierarchical society with an organized political and social system. Extensive evidence of ritual activity and human sacrifice has also been found at this site.
Local routes and remote connections
The researchers compared the newly obtained genome to previously published ancient DNA from populations across China. Their findings show that most of Shimao’s residents are descendants of local residents who lived in the area about 1,000 years ago.
The analysis also revealed genetic and cultural links with the Yangshao culture, a major Neolithic civilization that developed across the Loess Plateau near the Yellow River. These connections provide important clues about where the Shimao people came from and how their society developed.
The Shimao people also had close ties to communities associated with the Taocang culture (southern Shanxi province), Yuming-associated groups on the steppe, and rice-growing populations in the south. These relationships demonstrate extensive contact and interaction between prehistoric agricultural and pastoral communities over large geographical areas.
Ancient DNA rebuilds the Shimao family
Approximately 80 human bones were discovered near the east gate of Shimao. Prior to the late Shang period, no other site in China had excavated such a large collection of human bones.
Genetic analysis allowed researchers to reconstruct a family tree spanning up to four generations. This result suggests that Shimao’s social hierarchy was organized through patrilineal lineage, meaning that ancestry and status were traced through the father. The population also followed a patriarchal settlement, where it was common for women to move to live with or near the families of their male partners.
Taken together, these patterns provide an unusual perspective on how family relationships shaped authority, inheritance, and social status within settlements.
Male sacrifice at the east gate of Shimao
The discovery also overturns long-held ideas about the victims near Shimao’s eastern gate. Previous interpretations suggested that most of the victims were female, but genetic evidence indicates that nine out of ten of the burials examined were male.
Clear patterns emerged in different areas of the settlement. Male victims were concentrated near the East Gate, while the bodies of female victims were found in elite cemeteries such as Huangchengtai and Hanjia Gedan.
This separation suggests that the sacrifices at Shimao were carefully organized. Men and women may have been chosen for different rituals, and their roles depend on the purpose of the ritual and the location where it is performed.
New clues about the rise of early states
Genetic evidence indicates that the Shimao population evolved primarily from local populations with Yangshao culture ancestry in northern Shaanxi province. This establishes at least 1,000 years of cultural and genetic continuity in the region.
At the same time, the connections between residents and distant communities indicate that Shimao was not isolated. Its people participated in an extensive network linking agricultural and pastoral societies across northern, central, and southern China.
The study also provides the first direct genetic evidence that can be used to investigate how power was inherited and how different social classes were formed on Shimao, which belonged to the Gozoku. These insights can help researchers better understand the family systems and political structures that contributed to the emergence of early states in East Asia.
