Oracle+Bones

The Oracle bone was fist found in 1899.Oracle bone are pieces of bones or turtle plastron (that is, the underside of the shell, not the harder, thicker shell on top) which have the answers during the Shang Dynasty. They were heated and cracked, then were inscribed using a bronze pin this was know as known as oracle bones script.The oracle bone was the earliest significant item of ancient Chinese writing and it contain important information about the history of the Shang dynasty. It was said the the bone was used communicate with their ancestors.The Oracle bone is one old the oldest known Chinese writing.According to recent archealogical research, it dates back as far as 4,800 years ago. [|Oracle bone script]

Oracle bone from ancient the Shang dynasty.
 * [[image:oracle_bone]]

Here's how it worked** The king used to ask a question, for example, will it rain tomorrow? the priests carve the king's question on the bone, which was just an animal shell.Then the priests would heat the bronze pin and hold the pin on the bone. This created a pattern on the bone then the priests (who were usually women) would study the cracks and find out the answer.