Amazing find in Shaanxi! Chinese archaeologists uncovered 53 inscribed oracle bones at Zhouyuan Site containing direct references to royal activities, including inscriptions mentioning King Wen. The bones were deliberately discarded in a trash pit outside the city's south wall. Most significantly, this represents new textual evidence related to King Ji Chang (King Wen) of the Zhou Dynasty, supporting Zhouyuan Site's identification as a major Western Zhou settlement.
53 inscribed oracle bones confirm Zhouyuan Site as Western Zhou capital Shiu
Site mentioned
Key facts
- Chinese archaeologists found 53 inscribed oracle bones at the Zhouyuan Site site in Shaanxi province bearing direct references to royal activities
- The oracle bones were recovered from a moat ditch outside the city's south wall, deliberately broken and discarded into a garbage pit
- Over 80 identifiable characters were found, including a rare combined inscription of King Wen's honorary name
- This is the first direct textual evidence of King Ji Chong, founder of the Zhou Dynasty who ruled circa 1100-1050 BCE
- The discovery solidifies Zhouyuan Site's status as the early Western Zhou capital Shiu
- Previous excavations had revealed large building foundations and triple city walls from the Western Zhou period but lacked conclusive textual links
Sources
Largest Shang building, inscribed oracle bone discovered ...globaltimes.cn
More than 200 oracle bone fragments were discovered outside the southern wall of the palace city, said the document. "This excavation marks the ...
Discoveries related to King Wen of Zhou made in Shaanxiglobaltimes.cn
During the excavation of the site's architectural trenches, a total of 53 pieces of oracle bones with inscriptions were unearthed. Although ...
Listening to ancestors in the age of AIchinadaily.com.cn
The project has a digital collection of 1,525 oracle bones, including 950 from collections outside the Chinese mainland. However, Liu ...
A Chinese Museum Is Offering Big Money to Whomever ...atlasobscura.com
So far, experts have decoded around 2,000 of the approximately 5,000 characters found on these oracle bones, which were carved into turtle ...
A plain that echoes with legendschinadailyasia.com
Now 206 oracle bones, including. 29 inscribed with characters, have recently been unearthed at Zhouyu- an. The inscriptions include those.
Was this story useful?
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.