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Ancient DNA From China's 4,000-Year-Old Shimao City Reveals Clan Rule and Human Sacrifice

A new genetic study of 144 skeletons from the walled Neolithic city of Shimao in China shows a society organized around powerful patrilineal clans, with victims of mass human sacrifice found to be almost entirely men. The research, led by scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is the largest ancient-DNA study yet of one of East Asia's earliest complex urban societies.