Case study of a special burial resulting from obstetric death at the Sanbulijia site, Shandong Province, China

Abstract

Many young women were believed to die due to pregnancy and childbirth in the past, yet few cases of pregnant female burials have been reported in bioarcheological literature. Therefore, this paper reports the burial of an adult female (H49-1) and her infant (H49-2), who were buried together in an early Western Zhou pit at the Sanbulijia site, Jiaodong Peninsula, Shandong Province, China. It is the first reported case of obstetric death in thePre-Qin Period in Shandong Province. The mother-child relationship was proved by ancient DNA evidence and archeological context. The infant's remains were placed between the adult's lower legs. Skeletal histological evidence suggests that the infant died during or shortly after childbirth. Sacroiliac fusion of individual H49-1 may have resulted in dystocia. Furthermore, a special postmortem burial ritual-pit burial, was carried out for both the infant and the mother. H49 is the first Zhou Dynasty pit burial (multiple burial) with an exact radiocarbon date in the Shandong Peninsula. The case under review suggests that both the adult and the infant may have died due to special events, which may be related to obstetric death.