New DNA analysis has uncovered a 4,750-year-old female-led society in ancient China. Researchers say it is the oldest known matrilineal society, reports the South China Morning Post. A study published in Nature centers on the Fujia site in Shandong province—a region often cited as a cradle of Chinese civilization. The site, dating back to between 2750 BC, covers about 91 acres and belonged to the Dawenkou culture. Researchers say the society existed for around 250 years. They found that unlike in most contemporary societies, people of both sexes were buried in cemeteries based on maternal lineage.
The research team, led by Peking University bioscientist Ning Chao, analyzed DNA from 60 skeletons found in two burial areas, the Wall Street Journal reports. In the northern cemetery, everyone traced their maternal lineage to a single woman over roughly 10 generations; the southern cemetery revealed a separate maternal line. Despite these distinct lineages, evidence suggests the two clans intermarried and lived together. The mitochondrial DNA, passed only through mothers, was nearly identical within each group, while Y chromosome diversity suggested that men generally married into the groups.
"This practice aligns with the common norms of a matrilineal society, which does not mirror patrilineal and patrilocal systems, in which female individuals are typically buried alongside their male spouses," researchers wrote. Study-co author Zhang Hai says the team plans to continue studying the culture, focusing on the "timing mechanisms of the transition from matriarchy to patriarchy and its impact on Chinese civilization," the Post reports.
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Such societies may be rare but are not unprecedented, with examples like the Chaco Canyon dynasty in New Mexico and the contemporary Mosuo community in southwest China. The Minangkabau of Indonesia, numbering around 7 million, remain the world's largest matrilineal society. As Ning Chao points out, the research highlights that norms in social structure have shifted throughout history, sometimes in unexpected ways.
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