Henan Discovered Rare Human Sacrifice Remains

Rare Human Sacrifice Unearthed at a Large Site of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties in Henan Corresponds to the Record in the Oracle Bone Inscriptions

河南发现大型商周遗址 出土甲骨文记载的罕见“人祭”遗存

ZHENGZHOU, April 12 (Xinhua) — “This well-preserved human-bone structure looks like an oracle bone script — ‘坎’ (pronounced as ‘kan’ in Chinese). It is rare to see such a human sacrifice with the body not only being placed in a “kneeling” position, but also corresponding to an oracle bone script,” said Liang Fawei, head of the archaeological project of Chaizhuang Site.

新华社郑州4月12日电 “这具保存较好的人骨，形如‘坎’字的甲骨文。像这样呈跪姿，且可与甲骨文中的字形对照上的人祭现象实属罕见。”柴庄遗址发掘项目负责人梁法伟说。

Archaeologists have discovered a large number of tombs and sacrifice remains of the late Shang Dynasty at the Chaizhuang Site in Henan’s Jiyuan city, providing rich materials for the study of the social formation and ritual changes during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, of which a special human sacrifice phenomenon has attracted wide concern.

在河南济源柴庄遗址的发掘过程中，考古人员在遗址内发现大量墓葬及晚商祭祀遗存，为研究商周时期社会形态及礼制变迁提供实物资料。其中，一处独特的人祭现象引发业界关注。

Being beheaded and facing the north, the special human sacrifice remians attracted wide concern. [Photo/Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology]

Being beheaded and facing the north, it kneels in the pit with two hands crossed in front of the bosom. According to Liang Fawei, the oracle bone inscriptions unearthed in Yin Ruins in Anyang show that sacrificial culture prevailed in the Shang Dynasty and the people at that time recorded various sacrificial activities with different pictographs like “社” “示” “坛” and “坎” (pronounced as “she” “shi” “tan” and “kan” in Chinese), of which “坎” was used to describe the way that people or animals were sacrificed in the pits.

身首异处，面朝北方，双膝跪于坑内，两手交叉放在身前。梁法伟介绍说，据殷墟出土的甲骨文记载，商朝盛行祭祀文化，先民用“社”“示”“坛”“坎”等象形文字记述不同形制的祭祀活动。其中，“坎”字描绘的便是将人或是牲畜放在坑中的祭祀方式。

In the past, “lying” position was frequently found in human sacrifices. Experts speculated that although it is still rare to see such a human sacrifice with the body being placed in a “kneeling” position, it might be common at that time since the body posture unearthed this time corresponds to the record in the oracle bone inscriptions.

此前，考古发现的人祭现象多为躺姿。专家推测，呈“坎”字形的祭祀方式尽管在目前考古发现中出现的数量极少，但既然能与甲骨文中的记载相照应，或许在当时是普遍存在的。

A cattle sacrifice pit unearthed at the Chaizhuang Site. [Photo/Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology]

The Chaizhuang Site was located at a strategically important area bordering the east of the Zhiguan Passage, with the Taihang Mountains in the north and the Yellow River in the south. In literature, it was a place for the Shang Dynasty to control the south of today’s Shanxi province and a place which must be passed for King Wu’s conquest of the Shang Dynasty.

柴庄遗址所处区域是商王朝经略晋南的要地，也是文献记载周武王伐商的必经之地。这里扼守轵关陉东端，北依太行山，南部为黄河，地理位置显要。

Since 2019, approved by National Cultural Heritage Administration, Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, forming a joint archaeological excavation team together with Jiyuan Cultural Relics Team, has made excavations and surveys at the Chaizhuang Site, covering an area of 6,000 square meters, to support infrastructure construction.

2019年以来，为配合基建，经国家文物局批准，河南省文物考古研究院与济源市文物工作队组成联合考古发掘队，对柴庄遗址进行考古发掘及调查勘探，发掘面积6000平方米。

The remians of the early Western Zhou Dynasty discovered at  the Chaizhuang Site. [Photo/Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology]

“Orderly arranged tombs of the high-ranking nobles of the late Shang Dynasty, sacrificial pits, rammed earth walls and well-constructed wells were unearthed at the Chaizhuang Site, indicating that this place might act as a regional settlement center at that time.” Liang Fawei said, but no material evidence has been found to identify the exact ethnic background of the settlement due to severe tomb raiding.

“遗址内发现了排列有序的晚商高等级贵族墓葬、祭祀坑、夯土基址和建造考究的水井等，表明这里在当时应为区域中心聚落。”梁法伟说，遗憾的是，由于墓葬被盗严重，尚未发现可指明聚落族属的实物资料。

At present, archaeologists are still analyzing the Chaizhuang Site and trying to restore the past settlement based on the site structure and relics unearthed, including pottery, stone tools, bone implements, clam artifacts, jade, proto-porcelains, oracle bones and so on.

目前，考古人员仍在对遗址情况进行综合整理分析，结合遗址布局结构及出土的丰富遗物，包括陶器、石器、骨器、蚌器、玉器、原始瓷和卜骨等，还原聚落的基本面貌。（记者桂娟 李文哲 翻译赵汉青 审校白玉杰）