A new genetic study has revealed striking details about the practice of human sacrifice in early Korean society, suggesting that those buried alongside elites were not outsiders, but often part of the same extended communities.
The research, published in Science Advances, focuses on the Imdang–Joyeong burial complex in southeastern Korea, a site dating from the fourth to sixth centuries AD. The area is known for its use of human sacrifice, where individuals were buried together with high-status grave owners—a practice historically associated with the Silla kingdom.
By analysing DNA from 78 individuals, researchers were able to reconstruct family relationships across the site. While the burials clearly distinguish between grave owners and sacrificed individuals in terms of placement and treatment, the genetic results tell a more complex story.
Most crucially, there was no major genetic difference between those buried as elites and those sacrificed alongside them. The implication was that sacrificial victims were not from outside or foreign populations; rather, they came from within the same wider community. But close family ties between the two groups were surprisingly rare.
This sort of direct kinship could be observed in only a handful of cases, only a small number of them between a grave owner and a sacrificed individual within the same tomb. This pattern indicates a form of social stratification, where individuals may have belonged to the same population but occupied different social roles.
In some cases, entire family units appear to have been sacrificed together. Genetic analysis confirmed instances where parents and children were buried in the same tomb as part of sacrificial practices. This provides the first direct biological evidence supporting earlier archaeological interpretations of “household sacrifice” during the period.
The findings also reveal that practices such as marriage within close kin groups were present among both elites and those sacrificed. This further supports the idea that social divisions were not based on ancestry, but on inherited status within tightly connected communities.
The Imdang–Joyeong site contains more than 1,600 graves, many built within a relatively short timeframe of around a century. Some tombs include multiple chambers, with the main burial for the elite individual and additional spaces for sacrificed people.
For decades historians have argued over why human sacrifice took place in Silla society. Theories include those of ritual and religious beliefs, and displays of power or control. The new genetic evidence does not resolve these questions directly, but implies that sacrifice was embedded within the social structure itself, rather than imposed on outsiders. Overall, the study offers a rare and detailed look at how human sacrifice functioned within a real community. Instead of a simple divide between rulers and victims, the evidence indicates a more complex system, where social hierarchy, family ties, and ritual practice were closely intertwined.
Sources : Science Advances - DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.ady8614