The largest genomic study of the settlement shows that most inhabitants descended from farming communities that had occupied the northern Loess Plateau for at least 1,000 years before Shimao emerged. The findings challenge theories that the city was founded mainly by migrants from distant regions attracted by its strategic position between farming and pastoral societies.
Researchers generated genome-wide data from 169 people whose remains were recovered at Shimao and eight associated sites across Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces. After quality controls and the removal of duplicate or closely related samples, population analysis covered 144 individuals, while additional remains were used to reconstruct biological relationships.
Shimao flourished between about 2300BC and 1800BC near the northern bend of the Yellow River. Covering roughly four million square metres, the fortified settlement contained monumental stone walls, gateways, palatial structures, specialised production areas, elite cemeteries and a large stepped platform known as Huangchengtai.
The city’s scale and sophisticated defences have prompted archaeologists to describe it as an early political centre that developed centuries before the traditionally recognised Bronze Age states of the Central Plains. Jade objects, stone carvings, herding animals and artefacts resembling material from the northern steppes also raised questions about who built the settlement.
Genetic comparisons indicate strong continuity between Shimao’s population and earlier communities associated with the Yangshao culture in northern Shaanxi. Many individuals derived more than 80 per cent of their ancestry from populations represented at local sites dating to between 4800 and 4600 years ago.
The evidence suggests that Shimao grew largely from local agro-pastoral communities rather than from a major population replacement. Cultural influences from outside the region may therefore have travelled through trade, political contact, imitation or conflict without substantial migration.
However, the population was not isolated. Some individuals carried ancestry associated with ancient groups from the Inner Mongolian steppe, suggesting sustained contact between farmers on the Loess Plateau and communities farther north. That genetic influence increased from the Middle to Late Neolithic period, broadly matching archaeological evidence for greater reliance on sheep, goats and cattle.
Researchers also detected genetic links to populations from southern mainland China and the southeast coast. These connections may reflect long-distance movement accompanying the northward expansion of rice farming, although it remains unclear whether southern ancestry reached Shimao directly or through communities living along the Yangtze River.
A separate genomic investigation of the wider Yellow River Bend has reinforced this picture of extensive prehistoric interaction. DNA from people who lived from the Late Neolithic through the Bronze and Iron ages showed that ancestry linked to Central Plains farmers remained dominant while northern steppe and southern components entered the regional population.
The Shimao analysis also reconstructed family trees extending across as many as four generations. Tomb owners were predominantly organised through male lines, with sons remaining connected to paternal families while women often entered communities from different biological groups.
At the Zhaishan cemetery, graves of fathers and adult sons were generally positioned closer together than those of fathers and daughters. The pattern supports a patrilineal system in which descent, property and political standing were likely transmitted primarily through men.
Burial goods, weapons, pottery and sacrificial offerings indicate that wealth and status could also pass through these family networks. Yet the presence of richly furnished female tomb owners shows that women were not entirely excluded from positions of high rank.
The DNA findings cast new light on human sacrifice, one of Shimao’s most disturbing archaeological features. Skull pits beneath the city’s eastern gate contained decapitated victims, while other individuals were buried beside elite tomb owners.
Genetic sex determination found that nine of 10 sampled victims from the eastern gate skull pit were male. This overturned earlier interpretations that the group was predominantly female. The location beneath the gate suggests the killings may have formed part of a construction ritual intended to protect or legitimise the city’s fortifications.
Sacrificial attendants placed in elite graves followed a different pattern and were overwhelmingly female. Researchers believe the contrasting practices indicate that men and women were selected for separate ritual purposes linked to different locations and ceremonies.
The victims did not appear to be foreign captives. Their ancestry was broadly similar to that of Shimao’s dominant population, although they lacked close biological relationships with the elite people they accompanied in death.
Follow Arabian Post
Select Arabian Post as your preferred source on Google and MSN News for trusted business news and Arab politics and updates.
