Ancient Chinese characters cover the base of a tortoise shell believed to date back to the Shang dynasty IO
THE EARLY DYNASTIES earliest advanced civilizations in East Asia Culturally the dynasty is most noted for its bronze tools and written documents ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANCIENT WORLDS Apart from written records and carved inscriptions knowledge about ancient peoples is derived from the work of archaeologists Most of the significant archaeological findings have been made in the past two hundred years Some of the most important archaeological digs in China were made after the late 1970s Weapons pottery and muscial instruments are some of the more common archaeological finds but other surprising discoveries have been made In 2002 a set of four thousand year old noodles were unearthed at Lajia an archaeological site in the Qinghai Province of northwestern China The noodles made from a type of grain called millet were the oldest noodles ever discovered Location and Type of Rule Historians think that the Shang kings ruled from about 1600 to 1046 BCE The Shang state did not cover the entire territory that IIT
DISCOVERING ANCIENT CHINA now makes up China It was centered in the North China Plain and extended as far north as modern Shandong and Hebei Provinces and westward through present Henan Province During the time of the Shang the land was governed by a number of tribes or clans that were overseen by a king from one of the dominant or most powerful clans The king was believed to have direct KCCG AREA title and Chariots and animal bones uncovered in the ruins of the Shang capital of Anyang are on display in the Yinxu Museum Henan Province 12
THE EARLY DYNASTIES contact with the spirit world from which he received his power Historians estimate that approximately thirty kings ruled dur ing the Shang dynasty The kings of the Shang are believed to have occupied several capitals one after another One possible site is modern Zhengzhou in Henan Province where there are rich archaeological finds The Shang eventually settled at Anyang also in what is now Henan Province in the 1300s BCE Shang Contributions The Shang made a number of impor tant and lasting contributions to Chinese society They created a highly developed calendar system with a 360 day year with twelve months of thirty days each It was during the Shang period that Chinese writing began to develop No works of lit erature survive from the Shang dynasty but numerous records and ceremonial writing as well as family or clan names exist Many were carved into or brushed onto bones or tortoise shells Three kinds of characters were used and they represent the earliest known forms of writing in China 13
