China: An ox scapula oracle bone divining future good or bad fortune. Xiaotun, Anyang County, Henan Province, c. 1300 - 1050 BCE

Oracle bone inscriptions (Chinese: 甲骨; pinyin: jiǎgǔ) are the ancient Chinese characters carved on animal scapulas (shoulder blades) or turtle plastron (underside).

The oracle bone inscriptions were mainly used for divination and keeping records of events that happened in the late Shang Dynasty (c. 1300 - 1050 BCE).

Before the discovery of the oracle bone inscriptions, the major historical records of the Shang Dynasty were based on the Shiji (Historical Records) of Sima Qian (司馬遷), who lived in the days of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 25) and is generally regarded as the father of Chinese historiography.

However, the lack of archaeological evidence caused many scholars to doubt the reliability and credibility of this account. The discovery of oracle bone inscriptions provided the first scientific verification of Sima Qian's historiography and proves the existence of the former Shang Dynasty.

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