4. Sacrificial Pits of the Shang Dynasty (China)
The royal cemetery at Anyang, heart of China’s Shang dynasty, reveals burial pits filled with the remains of war captives and servants. These individuals were executed en masse to accompany rulers into the afterlife—a stark testament to the darker side of ancestor worship. The scale and brutality of these sacrifices expose the grim realities behind the dynasty’s spiritual beliefs.
