Exotic Wildlife Pits Hint at China’s Earliest Royal Zoo

A sacrificial pit photo shows bronze bells marked among animal remains at Yinxu

January

/ 2026

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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 at the Shang elite’s reach into forests, mountains, and wetlands well beyond the capital, explains a Xinhua report.

Why Researchers Think These Animals Were Kept

According to reporting cited by Sixth Tone, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) announced the discovery on January 9, describing it as unusually organized and diverse. A total of 29 bronze bells were recovered, with some appearing to have been attached to animals’ necks, a detail that points to captivity or controlled handling rather than an ordinary hunt.

Xinhua quotes Li Xiaomeng, an assistant researcher at CASS, saying the animals “were likely not captured in some random hunts,” but instead “probably raised in the parks or enclosures of the Shang Dynasty kings or other high-ranking nobles.”

Researchers also emphasize standardization: multiple pits, similar handling, and a repeated pattern of wild species appearing together. That kind of consistency, they argue, implies systems - acquisition, transport, feeding, and containment - rather than just a one-off spectacle.

The excavation site of the royal mausoleum zone of the Yin Ruins in Anyang, central China's Henan Province. (The Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/Handout via Xinhua)

What Was Found in the Pits

Across the 19 pits, archaeologists identified mammals including deer, wolves, tigers, leopards, foxes, serows, wild boars, porcupines, and short-horned domesticated water buffalo, plus at least five bird types such as swans, cranes, geese, falcons, and eagles (or vultures, depending on translation). The sheer spread of predators and prey in one ritual landscape is part of what makes the discovery so compelling.

CASS researcher Niu Shishan described the pattern as evidence of “a well-established network for acquiring, breeding and managing wildlife” during the Shang dynasty, in Xinhua’s account. If that interpretation holds, the pits are more than a snapshot of religious ritual, they’re also a window into early state power, logistics, and ecological knowledge.

There’s also a scientific angle beyond history. Researchers believe the diversity of animals could help reconstruct climate and ecological conditions during the late Shang period because which species appear (and in what numbers) can reflect habitats that once existed around Anyang and the broader region.

Bronze bells recovered from the Yinxu sacrificial pits.
(Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/Handout via Xinhua)

A Menagerie with Deep Roots in Royal Ritual

Yinxu - known as the last capital of the Shang - is one of China’s most important archaeological sites, famous for oracle bone inscriptions and monumental burials. The new pits add another layer: not just what the Shang sacrificed, but how they may have sourced and controlled rare animals as part of elite ritual life.

Henan’s provincial government site adds that the study was published in the journal Archaeology. While more detail from the underlying academic publication would help clarify methods and identifications, multiple outlets are aligned on the central point: bells, variety, and a strong implication of human control.

Top image: A sacrificial pit photo shows bronze bells marked among the finds at Yinxu. Source: Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences/Handout via Xinhua

By Gary Manners