In ancient times, victims of human sacrifice faced slavery before they died.

Archaeologists found that the victims of human sacrifice buried in the royal cemetery of Shang Dynasty were all preserved as slaves before being killed. A new study found that in an ancient human sacrifice site in China, prisoners of war may have been held as slaves for many years before being killed. Archaeologists have previously found evidence of human sacrificial ceremonies in many ancient societies, including ancient Greeks, Vikings and Mayans, Aztecs and Incas, and ancient China.

Previous studies have shown that a large number of human sacrifice ceremonies were held in Shang Dynasty (from16th century BC to1th century BC). This is the earliest dynasty that China archaeologists have evidence to prove. For example, sacrificial pits can be found everywhere in the ruins of Shang Du Yin Ruins discovered in Henan Province 1928 in central China. Scientists estimate that in about 200 years, more than 13000 people died in Yin Ruins, usually1men aged 5 to 35. On average, at least 50 people were killed in each sacrificial ceremony. At least 339 people were killed in the biggest sacrifice ever discovered. 25 kinds of human sacrifice culture

The amazing sacrificial site Yin Ruins is also the birthplace of the earliest known Oracle Bone Inscriptions in China. The fortune teller carved these problems on tortoise shells or cattle bones to solve the king's troubles, from personal problems such as troubled toothache to national problems such as crop failure. These inscriptions also record the sacrificial activities of the king, such as human sacrifice to the ancestors or gods of the rulers.

"In many ways, this website is really amazing," said lead author Christina Zhang, a biological archaeologist at Simon Fraser University in Benaby, Canada. Bronzes, Oracle Bone Inscriptions, bone inscriptions are amazing, the building scale is huge, and there are Yin ruins.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions suggested that many victims were prisoners of war, but there was no direct archaeological evidence. In order to support or refute these claims, the researchers analyzed the remains found in the royal cemetery of Yin Ruins in the new study, including royal tombs and more than 2,500 sacrificial pits.

China Yin Ruins Royal Cemetery has both royal tombs and more than 2,500 sacrificial pits. (Zhang Christina) In Shang Dynasty in China, there were two main ways of human sacrifice, namely "benevolence" and "benevolence training", Zhang said. The literal meaning of "human saint" is "human sacrifice", which is usually dismembered into a large group with little or no funerary objects. Inquiries that can be roughly translated as "human companions" are often buried by elaborate objects, and previous studies have shown that these objects are likely to be servants or family members of important people. Scientists in this new study analyzed the bone samples of 68 victims found in three groups of sacrificial pits, all of them were Rensheng except one.

Bone analysis Archaeologists often infer where the ancients came from by observing strontium isotopes in bones and teeth. However, most people investigated by Zhang and her colleagues were beheaded, which made this method impractical.

Instead, the researchers tested a different method to analyze the carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotopes in these bones. These isotopes are usually related to diet, so they may indirectly provide clues to the origin of bones.

Scientists compared the isotopes of 68 victims with those of 39 locals from a residential area in Yinxu, and found that these victims were probably not from Yinxu.

We provided the first direct evidence to prove the hypothesis supported so far.