The Truth of Unusual Deaths under Military Expansion: Evidence from the Stable Isotopes of a Human Skull Ditch in the Capital City of the Early Shang Dynasty.

ABSTRACT: The site of Zhengzhou Shang City (ca. 1509-1315 cal. BC) was the capital of the early Shang Dynasty in China. Archaeological excavations have unearthed a ditch containing approximately one hundred unusual dead human skulls in the rammed-earth foundations of the palace area. The identity and origin of the skulls have long been disputed. In this work, strontium, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses were carried out on 11 human skulls and 1 tooth from the ditch, as well as on 11 human bones, 11 human teeth from the ordinary tombs and 10 pig teeth from the Zhengzhou Shang City site. We determined that, in Zhengzhou Shang City, the local strontium isotope ratio ranges from 0.711606 to 0.711884, and ordinary inhabitants consumed mainly C₄ plants supplemented by C₃ pl

SUBMITTER: Fang F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9690788 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature