Oracle bone with inscription

Maker Unidentified artist

Dateca. 1200–1045 BC

MediumOx bone, carving, burn marks

Dimensions7 1/4 x 4 5/8 inches (18.4 x 11.7 cm)

CultureChina

PeriodShang dynasty

ClassificationsCalligraphy

Credit LineGeorge and Mary Rockwell Collection

Terms

Artifacts
Calligraphy
Oracle Bones
Carving
Ox bone
Bones
Calligraphy
Divination
Divination objects
Inscriptions
Chinese

Object number88.002.246

Label CopyOracle bones served as an important tool of shamanism and were used in divination on behalf of Shang dynasty rulers. Such bones contain the earliest surviving examples of Chinese writing. Typically, the phrases on oracle bones record the answers to questions asked about the future to the spirits of ancestors and to the god Shang Di. Shamans performed the divination by poking the bone with a hot metal rod that would cause cracks and fissures to form. They would then “read” the cracks to divine the answers.

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