Ancient DNA is revealing new details about the people who lived at Shimao, one of the most important Neolithic settlements in China. Conclusion, published in NatureExplain the origin, family relationships and social organization of population. They also identify genetic links with communities farther south and provide evidence that mass burials associated with human sacrifice at the site largely involved men.
The project was led by Professor Qiaomi Fu of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Researchers from the Shaanxi Provincial Academy of Archeology and several other institutions also contributed to the work.
Over 13 years, the team conducted a large-scale, high-resolution analysis of nuclear DNA from 169 ancient human samples (144 unrelated individuals). The remains come from Shimao, nearby archaeological sites, and locations in the southern Shanxi region.
a massive walled settlement in ancient china
Shimao dates back to approximately 4200–3700 years before present and is located in northern Shaanxi province of China. The massive stone-walled settlement, spanning approximately four square kilometres, was divided into distinct functional areas.
Archaeological evidence indicates that Shimao had a strongly stratified society with organized political and social systems. The site also produced extensive evidence of ritual activity and human sacrifice.
Local roots and distant connections
The researchers compared the newly obtained genome to previously published ancient DNA from populations across China. Their results show that most of Shimao’s residents are descendants of local people who lived in the area about 1,000 years ago.
The analysis also uncovered both genetic and cultural ties to the Yangshao culture, a major Neolithic civilization that flourished in the Loess Plateau near the Yellow River. These connections provide important clues about where the Shimao population came from and how its society developed.
The Shimao people were also closely related to communities associated with the Taosi culture (southern Shanxi), steppe Yumin-related groups, and southern rice-farming populations. These relationships point to extensive contact and exchange between prehistoric farming and pastoral communities across a wide geographic area.
Ancient DNA reconstructs Shimao families
About 80 human skulls were found near the eastern gate of Shimao. Before the end of the Shang period, such a large collection of human skulls had not been found at any other archaeological site in China.
Genetic analysis allowed researchers to reconstruct the family lineage up to four generations. The results showed that the social hierarchy of the Shimao was organized through patrilineal descent, meaning that lineage and status were traced through the father. The population also followed patrilocal residence, in which women usually moved to live with or near the families of their male partners.
Together, these patterns offer a rare view of how familial relationships may have shaped authority, inheritance, and social rank within the settlement.
Male sacrifice at the eastern gate of Shimao
The findings also overturn a long-held belief about the people sacrificed near the East Gate of Shimao. Earlier interpretations suggested that most of the victims were women, but genetic evidence shows that nine of the ten burials examined there were men.
A clear pattern emerged in different areas of the settlement. Male sacrificial victims were concentrated near the East Gate, while female sacrificial remains were found in specific cemeteries, including Huangchengtai and Hanjiagedan.
This separation suggests that the sacrifice at Shimao was carefully organized. Men and women would have been selected for separate ceremonies, their roles determined by the purpose of the ritual and the location where it took place.
New clues to the rise of early states
Genetic evidence indicates that the Shimao population evolved primarily from local groups with Yangshao cultural ancestry in northern Shaanxi. This establishes at least 1,000 years of cultural and genetic continuity in the region.
Additionally, the population’s connections to distant communities indicate that Shimao was not isolated. Its people participated in extensive networks linking agricultural and pastoral societies in northern, central, and southern China.
The study also provides the first direct genetic evidence that can be used to investigate how Shimao inherited power, who belonged to its ruling families, and how different social classes were formed. These insights may help researchers better understand the family systems and political structures that contributed to the emergence of early states in East Asia.