For many cultures today, it’s common to bury deceased relatives in a grave with a coffin and headstone. This wasn’t always the case, as a recent archaeological discovery from ancient China shows.
Recent Archaeological Discovery reveals skull cups and masks
A research team led by Junmei Sawada, a biological anthropologist at Niigata University of Health and Welfare in Japan, examined a curious archaeological discovery: deformed bone remains. They come from the Chinese Liangzhu site near Hangzhou in the Zhejiang province. Most were found in canals and moats, along with ceramics and animal bones.
As they report in their study, out of the 183 human bones examined, 52 were worked bones. In this case, this means four human-modified “skull cups” and mask-like facial skulls each, as well as other crafts made from small skull fragments, perforated children’s skulls, mandibles, and tools made from long bones. About 80 percent of the works were likely incomplete.
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Human Remains Had No Sentimental Value
The microscopic analysis of the recent archaeological discovery shows that the bones were modified without the use of force. There are no signs that the skeletons were torn apart. The researchers therefore assume that they were worked on after natural decomposition.
“The fact that many of the worked human bones were unfinished and discarded in canals suggests a lack of reverence toward the dead,” Sawada added in a statement to Live Science.
Radiocarbon dating revealed that the bones date from between 3,000 and 2,500 BC — the middle to late phase of the Chinese Liangzhu culture. What’s special is that before this time, human remains were buried exclusively with respect. The practice of working bones and disposing of them like waste appeared suddenly, without any cultural tradition. According to the researchers, the reason could lie in the emergence of one of the first cities in East Asia.
Urbanization As a Reason For The Indifferent practice?
“We suspect that the emergence of urban society — and the resulting encounters with social ‘others’ beyond traditional communities — may hold the key to understanding this phenomenon,” said Sawada. With population growth, relationships changed: In smaller villages, everyone knew their neighbors personally. In the city of Liangzhu, thousands of strangers suddenly lived together.
Interestingly, some skull cups were also found as grave goods in elite tombs, suggesting religious or ritual purposes — a contrast to the unfinished specimens that were discarded like trash. Curiously, the modification custom disappeared after 200 years, according to Sawada. Further investigations are needed to clarify the unanswered questions surrounding the recent archaeological discovery.
Sources: “Worked human bones and the rise of urban society in the neolithic Liangzhu culture, East Asia” (Scientific Reports, 2025); Live Science
This article was originally published on futurezone.de / 4P.de and has been carefully translated.