Image Credit: Bilaterian, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ancient DNA Reveals Social Order at Shimao City

A new DNA study has uncovered the social structure and ancestry of Shimao, one of China’s earliest and most complex prehistoric cities. Published in Nature, the research analyzed genetic material from 144 individuals found in Shimao and nearby settlements, offering the most detailed look yet at life in this 4,300-year-old walled metropolis.
The findings show that most of Shimao’s inhabitants descended from earlier Yangshao farmers of the Loess Plateau, indicating deep regional continuity. However, traces of ancestry from northern steppe populations and southern rice-farming communities reveal wide-reaching contacts across ancient China.
The DNA also exposed a highly organized, patrilineal society. Elite tombs contained multi-generation male lineages, while women were brought in from unrelated families, suggesting marriage alliances with outside groups. Human sacrifice — a known feature of Shimao — showed clear patterns: male victims in mass ritual pits, and mostly unrelated young women placed as attendants in elite burials. Some sacrificed women were biologically related to one another, hinting that specific families may have been targeted for ritual use.
These results paint a vivid picture of a stratified early state where kinship, hierarchy and ritual played defining roles, making Shimao the first major East Asian complex society ever decoded so extensively through ancient DNA.

Published on: 28-11-2025

Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie

Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences