https://emuseum.cornell.edu/internal/media/dispatcher/75978/fullOracle bone with inscriptionca. 1200–1045 BC7 1/4 x 4 5/8 inches (18.4 x 11.7 cm)Ox bone, carving, burn marksGeorge and Mary Rockwell Collection88.002.2460Ancient characters engraved on piece of ox bone (scapula, "shoulder blade"). Approximately 26 characters of inscription in two vertical lines; broken at bottom. Reverse vertical crack about 3-1/2 inches long from bottom edge to the center. Remnants of burn marks on reverse side.Calligraphy18808437225Unidentified artistChinaOracle 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.Shang dynasty88.002.246_Disc0393_03936036