10 ORACLE BONE: CRACKING MADE ON THE XINHAI (DAY 48); NO QUICK VICTORY ON THE YIN (DAY 51?). APPROVED. IT WILL RAIN ON JIAHAI (?) MS in Chinese on oxen scapula bone, Xiaotun, China, 14th-12th c. BC, 1 ...

What it is: Tortoise shells or the shoulder blades of oxen that were inscribed with ancient Chinese characters Where it is from: China When it was made: 3,250 years ago Related: The 3,300-year-old ...

The earliest extant examples of Chinese writing are the inscriptions that appear on so-called oracle bones (animal bones and turtle shells) and on bronze vessels, the oldest of which date back to the ...

Narrator: One of the most exciting objects or artefacts we have from the Shang Dynasty are oracle bones. They are animal bones covered in ancient writing and were used to try to predict the future.