Dogs used in the ritual sacrifices of the ancient Chinese Shang dynasty elites were mainly puppies — and some were even trussed up and buried alive.
This is the finding of researchers from China and the US, who gathered data on all known Shang dynasty dog burials to investigate the sacrificial traditions.
The experts suggest that puppies were sacrificed as a more economical stand in than raising fully-grown animals, which in turn were cheaper than human offerings.
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In the ancient city of Zhengzhou, archaeologists had uncovered eight neatly-dug pits — four oval, four rectangular — which collectively held the remains of 92 dogs that, given the arrangement of their skeletons, were likely tied up and buried alive
The Shang dynasty ruled over the Yellow River Valley in the centre of China between around 1600 and 1046 BC.
The elite of the Shang dynasty commonly undertook ritual human and animal sacrifices, placing offered remains in burial pits or within the tombs of the dead.
Archaeologist Roderick Campbell of the New York University and Zhipeng Li of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences collected data on all Shang dynasty archaeological sites where evidence of dog sacrifices had been unearthed.
As it is difficult for foreign archaeologists to get permits to dig in China, Professor Campbell and Dr Li sourced most of their data from existing studies and finds by other researchers.
The duo were surprised to discover that the majority of sacrificed dogs were but puppies when they were killed, while others were lain out in a manner that suggested they had been tied up and buried alive.
'Puppies, that sounds horrible,' Professor Campbell told Live Science.
'On the other hand, if it's not your puppy and if you're living in a society where you don't have the same assumptions of dogs and cuteness,' he added.
'It's a cheaper investment in the animal. You don't have to raise it yourself.'
Some of the canine remains were found with small bronze bells tied about their necks — a finding which might encourage one to see them as pets. Analysis of the bones, however, revealed that 73 per cent of the dogs were under a year old at death, suggesting otherwise
According to Professor Campbell, dogs have been used in ritual sacrifices in China for the entirety of the known archaeological records.
The earliest evidence for such practices date to around 7050–5850 BC and come from the neolithic settlement of Jiahu, which is located in central China, 14 miles (22 kilometres) north of the modern-day city of Wuyang.
Eleven dog burials have been excavated from the site, which is believed to have once been a settlement of the agricultural Peiligang culture that likely served as home for at least 250 people.
In the ancient city of Zhengzhou, archaeologists had uncovered eight neatly-dug pits — four oval, four rectangular — which collectively held the remains of 92 dogs that, given the arrangement of their skeletons, were likely tied up and buried alive.
By the time of the Erligang culture, which lived back around 1500 BC in what is today the province of Henan, dogs began to be placed in human tombs as well.
The researchers found that these dogs had been deposited in places similar to those in which human sacrifices might also have been left, such as on a ledge or within a niche within the tomb, or buried underneath the torso of the tomb's owner.
The Shang dynasty ruled over the Yellow River Valley in the centre of China between around 1600 and 1046 BC.
They were the second of the traditional Chinese dynasties, succeeding the Xia dynasty and being followed by the Zhou dynasty.
However, it is the earliest dynasty for which there has remained preserved archaeological evidence.
The elite of the Shang dynasty commonly undertook ritual sacrifices, placing offered remains in burial pits or within the tombs of the dead.
The last Shang Dynasty city was Yin, which was located near what is today the city of Anyang.
Excavations of the Yin ruins have unearthed the early examples of Chinese writing, in the form of inscriptions made on oracle bones.
Oracle bones -
