Object Details
Culture
China
Shang dynasty
Date
ca. 1200–1045 BC
Medium
Ox bone, carving, burn marks
Dimensions
7 1/4 x 4 5/8 inches (18.4 x 11.7 cm)
Credit Line
George and Mary Rockwell Collection
Object
Number
88.002.246
Oracle bones served as an important tool of shamanism and were used in divination on behalf of Shang(…)
Oracle 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.
