08 · OBJECT · SHANG WRITING

Oracle bones

Asking the ancestor and preserving the question

Bones and shells preserve questions and forecasts from Shang divination ceremonies.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Specific historical recreation of Asking the ancestor and preserving the question, Yin Xu/Anyang, Henan, China, from ca. 1200 BCE — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

**DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Turtle shells and animal bones were prepared, heated and then inscribed in Shang divination ceremonies. At Yin Xu they form the earliest known evidence of mature Chinese writing.

Writing is not yet a popular library. It is tied to royal practices and rituals; the cracks, the question and the record compose a procedure, not an isolated phrase.

Scapulae and shells were cleaned, thinned and perforated; a heat source produced cracks interpreted by specialists. The inscription could add date, question, forecast and verification.

Questions about harvest, childbirth, war, weather or sacrifice show court priorities. The silence about most inhabitants is part of the archive.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: UNESCO and the Met describe oracle bones as Shang divination records; examples of mature writing begin around 1200 BCE. Interpretation and caution: Translating an inscription as a transparent voice of Shang society as a whole ignores its courtly and ritual framework. Documented expansion: UNESCO records over 150,000 fragments and thousands of signs; the Met preserves a Shang oracle bone. Expanded interpretation and caution: Not all fragments include all phases and many readings of signs or toponyms continue to be revised.

Catalogue facts

Narrative date: from ca. 1200 BCE
Location: Yin Xu/Anyang, Henan, China
Material: Animal bone and turtle shell inscribed
Context: Royal divination and archive
Curatorial reading: The documented fact and its interpretation appear separately in the evidence block.
Supports: Bovid scapulae and turtle plastrons
Function: Recorded royal divination
Documentary coverage: 4 museum, heritage, primary corpus or research sources for this stop.

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

THE CURRENT OBJECT

Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.

You are viewing

from ca. 1200 BCE

Oracle bones

Ancient China

«From ca. 1200 BCE» does not provide an end point; archive of several phases.

Current record

Bone6 dated objects

1 / 6In the centre: Hohle Fels flute

Also connected, without a comparable date (2)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

Bone needlePrehistory · No individual dating published on this record
Ishango, without genealogical shortcutBatwa / Twa histories · More than 20,000 years; context ca. 25,000–20,000 BP

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Inscriptions

Current object, without a comparable date: Oracle bones.

Naqada labels · ca. 3300–3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Narmer Palette · ca. 3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Ur-Nanshe relief · Mid-3rd millennium BCE · reign of Ur-Nanshe · Sumer
Stele of the Vultures · Towards 2450–2425 BCE · Sumer
Bassetki Statue · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Indus seals · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Naram-Sin Stele · Reign of Naram-Sin, 2254–2218 BCE · Sumer
Stele of Hammurabi · Towards 1750 BCE · Sumer
Phaistos Disc · ≈1700–1650 BCE · Greek worlds
Linear A · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
The voice of Ahiram · c. 11th–10th century BCE · Phoenicians
The Cascajal Block · Proposed c. 1000–900 BCE · Maya worlds
Black Obelisk · 825 BCE · Sumer
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Phoenicians
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Iberians
Stele of Esarhaddon · 7th century BC C. · 671 campaign BCE · Sumer
Ivory with names · End of the 7th century–first half of the 6th century BCE · Phoenicians
Shabti of Psamtek · 570–526 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Uni was also Astarte · Towards 510 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar · first quarter of the 5th century BCE · Phoenicians
Ezerovo Ring · 5th century BCE · chronology discussed in the bibliography · Thracians
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Yan knife-money in the Gojoseon sphere · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Ancient China
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
A coin with the memory of a blade · 323–222 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
A sky over the liver · End of the second–beginning of the first century BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Hand of Irulegui · First third of the 1st century BCE · Iberians
Betatun altar · 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Kilwa coin · 1482–1493 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Writing with gaps · Diverse chronologies · Garamantes

Writing

Current object, without a comparable date: Oracle bones.

Naqada labels · ca. 3300–3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Ivory tablets · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Jemdet Nasr · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Account of malt and barley · c. 3100–2900 BCE · Sumer
Before the Hittites · c. 19th century BCE · Hittites
Plimpton 322 · Paleo-Babylonian period · around 1800 BCE · Sumer
Sumerian King List · Towards 1800 BCE · Sumer
Stele of Hammurabi · Towards 1750 BCE · Sumer
Love song to Shu-Sin · Paleo-Babylonian copy, around 1900–1600 BCE according to CDLI · Sumer
Si.427 tablet · Towards 1900–1600 BCE · paleobabylonian; uncertain chronological attribution in CDLI · Sumer
Phaistos Disc · ≈1700–1650 BCE · Greek worlds
Sumerian Flood of Nippur · Towards 1650 BCE · Sumer
Linear A · c. 1700–1500 BCE · Greek worlds
Boğazköy Archive · Above all 17th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Linear B · c. 1375 BCE · Greek worlds
Alaksandu of Wilusa · c. 1300 BCE · Hittites
Treaty with Egypt · c. 1259 BCE, year 21 of Ramesses II · Hittites
The voice of Ahiram · c. 11th–10th century BCE · Phoenicians
Flood Tablet · 7th century BCE · Sumer
Babylonian map of the world · Towards 700–500 BCE · Sumer
Uni was also Astarte · Towards 510 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Rations for women and children · Towards 509–493 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Ezerovo Ring · 5th century BCE · chronology discussed in the bibliography · Thracians
The archer in gold · Type introduced from the late 6th century; specimen from the 4th century BCE. · Achaemenid Persia
The inscription of Pistiros · 4th century BCE · Thracians
Derveni Papyrus · copy conserved towards 340–320 BCE; comments on a previous text. · Thracians
Lead tablet · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
Hand of Irulegui · First third of the 1st century BCE · Iberians
Denarius of Carisius · ≈25–23 BCE · Iberians
Betatun altar · 1st century BCE–1st century CE · Iberians
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Venus in the codex · Preserved manuscript: Postclassic, probably 13th–14th centuries; earlier knowledge · Maya worlds
Catalan Atlas · after 1375 and before November 1380 · Mande Worlds
Bamum document · 28 April 1922 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Eleven articles · Adopted April–May 2022; public portal 2025 · Batwa / Twa histories

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

49 Classical Voices · Authors and traditions between the 6th century BCE and 4th century CE · Iberians
Cyrus speaks as king of Babylon · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Indian Ocean Kiswahili · from the first millennium CE; major development in medieval and modern times · Bantu-speaking worlds
The cost of transcription · 19th century–current digital edition · San histories
Translating faith · 16th–18th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Voices from outside · Fifth century BCE–Late Antiquity · Garamantes
Writing with gaps · Diverse chronologies · Garamantes
Zalmoxis · testimony of Herodotus, 5th century BCE; no biographical date of the divinity. · Thracians

Divination

Current object, without a comparable date: Oracle bones.

A sky over the liver · End of the second–beginning of the first century BCE · Etruscans and Rome

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

A specific enquiry about the birth of a child

The Ping 0247 plastron from Academia Sinica refers to the birth of Fu Hao during the reign of Wu Ding. According to the museum’s interpretation, the query related the expected day of birth to the fortune of the event and the baby’s sex. The document allows us to see what the court sought to ascertain, but also the cultural form of ordering uncertainty. It is not an obstetric diagnosis nor a personal account from the mother: it is a ritual question whose evaluative framework belongs to the setting that produced it.

Museum · Museum of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica · Inscribed Plastron Ping 0247Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Location and territory

LOCATED SITE

Yin Xu/Anyang · ChinaMarker of the late Shang capital.

Where it is held

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Reference material evidence · Documented collection

Reference specimen within a card on the oracle bone corpus.

The British Museum

Reference material evidence · Documented collection

Second material testimony linked to document the practice.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

Expand this information and consult its sources

Did you enjoy this exhibit?

Your opinion helps us improve the museum. You can change it whenever you like.

Loading your rating…

Oracle bones

History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Objects connected through time

Oracle bones

Hohle Fels flute

Rondelle de Mas-d'Azil

El Miradero spatula-idols

Naqada labels

Ivory tablets

453 astragali from Alarcos

A closer look

A specific enquiry about the birth of a child

Location and territory

Where it is held

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The British Museum

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?