{
  "id": 16313565,
  "title": "China study suggests animal sacrifice may have been part of ancient Sanxingdui rituals",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/24/china-study-suggests-animal-sacrifice-may-have-been-part-of-ancient",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-24T10:00:11.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "South China Morning Post",
    "slug": "south-china-morning-post",
    "url": "https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3372019/china-study-suggests-animal-sacrifice-may-have-been-part-ancient-sanxingdui-rituals"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Animal sacrifice has played a major role in human history, from mythological stories about Odysseus to modern rituals such as Nepal’s Gadhimai Festival. The tradition also dates back to ancient peoples we know little about. A research paper published in the Journal of Archaeological Science in late August suggests that the enigmatic Sanxingdui people likely practised animal sacrifice. To reach…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}