animals

Archaeologists working at the Yin Ruins (Yinxu) in Anyang, Henan, say they’ve uncovered evidence of what may be China’s earliest known “complex of artificially raised wildlife”, a kind of Bronze Age menagerie linked to the Shang royal world. The standout clue: bronze bells, apparently worn by some animals, suggesting they weren’t simply hunted, but kept and managed alive before ending up in sacrificial pits. The find comes from 19 small-to-medium sacrificial pits excavated between 2023–2024, in an area long famous for oracle bones, royal tombs, and ritual bronzes, typical of the Shang Dynasty era, which ran from around 1600 BC to 1046 BC. Together, the pits contained a striking range of wild mammals and birds, an “archaeological menagerie” that hints