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Shang archaeology is concerned with the archaeological evidence for the Chinese Shang dynasty. Choice of excavation sites and interpretation of finds have been heavily influenced by the textual historical record.
The earliest and to-date most well known Shang site is Yinxu, near Anyang in Henan province. Work began in 1928 initially as an investigation of the source of oracle bones. It was carried out by a team from the new research organisation Academia Sinica, and directed by the Harvard-trained anthropologist Li Ji. Fifteen seasons of excavation were carried out at Anyang until 1937, when the Second Sino-Japanese War forced the archaeologists to evacuate. During that time, the Anyang excavators uncovered large pounded-earth (hangtu) architectural foundations, sacrificial burial cemeteries, and gigantic shaft tombs, not to mention caches of bronze vessels. Historians have come to associate the site with Yinxu, the traditional name of the Shang capital for the last twelve kings of the dynasty, starting with Pan Geng. Excavations at Anyang resumed in 1950, under the auspices of a new Institute of Archaeology, and a permanent field station was established there in 1958.
The successes at Anyang encouraged further archaeological efforts, awareness of which has been fostered by the State Bureau of Cultural Relics. In 1952, excavations at Erligang, near Zhengzhou, disclosed the remains of a walled city at least as large as Anyang, but from a demonstrably earlier period. Excavations were difficult, however, because the ancient city lay beneath the modern one.
The still older site of Erlitou, near Luoyang, was discovered in 1959 by a survey prospecting for Xia remains. The three sites of Erlitou, Erligang, and Anyang have been taken to provide a complete chronological sequence for the early Bronze Age in China.
There have also been other finds away from the Yellow River valley. A significant early achievement was the discovery of an Erligang-period city at Panlongcheng, not far from the Yangzi River. Further and more distinct finds surfaced later in the middle and lower Yangzi regions, including the Wucheng site in Jiangxi, suggesting local civilisations separate from those of the Yellow River region. This argument has grown stronger with the discoveries further afield – that of spectacular sacrificial pits at Sanxingdui, Sichuan in 1986, and of a rich tomb at Xingan, Jiangxi, in 1989.
Oracle bones were first recognised for their true nature in 1898, and scholars have been labouring to decipher them ever since. They circulated among collectors and antique dealers, and to this day some 200,000 oracle bone fragments from the Xiaotun site in Anyang have been counted.
These inscriptions record the pyromantic divinations performed at the court of the Shang kings. The king or his diviners would address an oral "charge" to a specially prepared turtle plastron or cattle scapula while applying a hot poker or brand to produce a series of heat cracks in the shell or bone. They then interpreted these cracks as auspicious or inauspicious, after which engravers carved into the surface of the shell or bone the subject of the charge, sometimes the forecast, and less frequently the result.
Bronze has been left behind in China in quantities not comparable to anywhere else in the world. Both technologically and artistically, the metalworking tradition that arose in China is unlike any other in the world.
The technological feature which distinguishes Shang bronzes from those found elsewhere in the world is the technique of casting as opposed to hammering. Casting was a far more extravagant technique compared to hammering, and required both abundant mineral resources and organisation of labour.
The earliest evidence for bronze casting are the two dozen bronze vessels unearthed at Erlitou. Bronzes appear in much large quantities at Erligang, and show technological and artistic advances.
The Shang dynasty, also known as the Yin dynasty, was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the Book of Documents, Bamboo Annals and Records of the Grand Historian. According to the traditional chronology based on calculations made approximately 2,000 years ago by Liu Xin, the Shang ruled from 1766 to 1122 BC, but most recent scholarship has preferred the 16th to 11th centuries BC.
Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron, which were used for pyromancy – a form of divination – in ancient China, mainly during the late Shang dynasty. Scapulimancy is the correct term if ox scapulae were used for the divination, plastromancy if turtle plastrons were used.
Yinxu is the site of one of the ancient and major historical capitals of China. It is the source of the archeological discovery of oracle bones and oracle bone script, which resulted in the identification of the earliest known Chinese writing. The archeological remnants known as Yinxu represent the ancient city of Yin, the last capital of China's Shang dynasty which existed through eight generations for 255 years, and through the reign of 12 kings. Yinxu was discovered, or rediscovered, in 1899. It is now one of China's oldest and largest archeological sites, and was selected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. Yinxu is located in northernmost Henan province near the modern city of Anyang, and near the Hebei and Shanxi province borders. Public access to the site is permitted.
Sanxingdui is an archaeological site and a major Bronze Age culture in modern Guanghan, Sichuan, China. Largely discovered in 1986, following a preliminary finding in 1927, archaeologists excavated artifacts that radiocarbon dating placed in the twelfth–eleventh centuries BC. The archaeological site is the type site for the Sanxingdui culture that produced these artifacts, archeologists have identified the locale with the ancient kingdom of Shu. The artifacts are displayed in the Sanxingdui Museum located near the city of Guanghan.
The Erlitou culture was an early Bronze Age urban society and archaeological culture that existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC.( A 2007 study of radiocarbon dating proposed a narrower date range of 1750 to 1530 BC.) The culture was named after the site discovered at Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan. It was widely spread throughout Henan and Shanxi and later appeared in Shaanxi and Hubei. Most archaeologists consider Erlitou the first state-level society in China. Chinese archaeologists generally identify the Erlitou culture as the site of the Xia dynasty, but there is no firm evidence, such as writing, to substantiate such a linkage, as the earliest evidence of Chinese writing dates to the late Shang dynasty.
The Tomb of Fu Hao is an archaeological site at Yinxu, the ruins of the ancient Shang dynasty capital Yin, within the modern city of Anyang in Henan Province, China. Discovered in 1976 by Zheng Zhenxiang, it was identified as the final resting place of the queen and military general Fu Hao, who died about 1200 BCE and was likely the Lady Hao inscribed on oracle bones by king Wu Ding and one of his many wives.
The Erligang culture is a Bronze Age urban civilization and archaeological culture in China that existed from approximately 1600 to 1400 BC. The primary site, Zhengzhou Shang City, was discovered at Erligang, within the modern city of Zhengzhou, Henan, in 1951.
Panlongcheng or Panlong City is an archaeological site associated with the Erligang culture during the Shang dynasty period. The site is located just north of the Yangtze river, on the bank of the Panlong lake, and is surrounded by the Fushui river in Huangpi, Wuhan, Hubei, China. Panlongcheng is the largest excavated Erligang site, showing the southernmost reach of the Erligang culture at its peak. It was discovered in 1954, and excavated in 1974 and 1976.
The Dayangzhou Chengjia site is an archaeological site located on the Gan River in Dayangzhou Town, Xingan County, Jiangxi, China. The site was excavated in 1989, and it dates to around 1200 BCE. The rich offerings of bronze and jade objects made it the second richest burial site known after the Fu Hao's tomb.
The Wucheng culture (吳城文化) was a Bronze Age archaeological culture in Jiangxi, China. The initial site, spread out over 4 km2 (1.5 sq mi), was discovered at Wucheng Township, Jiangxi. Located on the Gan River, the site was first excavated in 1973. The Wucheng culture probably developed in response to cultural contacts with the expanding Erligang culture, melding Erligang influences with local traditions. The Wucheng culture was a distinct contemporary of Sanxingdui and Yinxu (Anyang).
The Xia–Shang–Zhou Chronology Project was a multi-disciplinary project commissioned by the People's Republic of China in 1996 to determine with accuracy the location and time frame of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties.
Since the second half of the 20th century, inscriptions have been found on pottery in a variety of locations in China, such as Banpo near Xi'an, as well as on bone and bone marrows at Hualouzi, Chang'an County near Xi'an. These simple, often geometric, marks have been frequently compared to some of the earliest known Chinese characters appearing on the oracle bones, and some have taken them to mean that the history of Chinese writing extends back over six millennia. However, only isolated instances of these symbols have been found, and they show no indication of representing speech or of the non-pictorial processes that a writing system requires.
A jia is a ritual vessel type found in both pottery and bronze forms; it was used to hold libations of wine for the veneration of ancestors. It was made either with four legs or in the form of a tripod and included two pillar-like protrusions on the rim that were possibly used to suspend the vessel over heat. The earliest evidence of the Jia vessel type appears during the Neolithic Period. It was a prominent form during the Shang and early Western Zhou dynasties, but had disappeared by the mid-Western Zhou.
Huanbei is the site of a Bronze Age city on the northern outskirts of the modern city of Anyang in Henan province, China, discovered in 1999. The name refers to its position to the north (běi) of the Huan River. The city seems to have been burnt to the ground after 50 years of occupation, shortly before the construction on the other side of the river of the site now known as Yinxu, the source of the earliest Chinese written records, oracle bones relating to the last nine kings of the Shang dynasty. Huanbei is accordingly assigned to a "Middle Shang" period.
The Zhengzhou Shang City is an archaeological site of the Bronze Age Erligang culture in Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Studies give it 4 chronological phases from 1630 to 1400 BC. The excavation of the site is of great importance in understanding the history of the dynasty. It is also one of the oldest archeological sites in China.
The Yueshi culture was an archaeological culture in the Shandong region of eastern China, dated from 1900 to 1500 BC. It spanned the period from the Late Neolithic to the early Bronze Age. In the Shandong area, it followed the Longshan culture period and was later replaced by the Erligang culture.
The Zhou–Chu War was a military conflict between the Zhou dynasty under King Zhao and the state of Chu from 961 to 957 BC. King Zhao personally led at least two major campaigns against Chu and other states and tribes of the middle Yangtze region, initially conquering the lands north of the Yangtze and the Han River valley. Eventually, however, the Zhou forces suffered a crushing defeat, with half of their armed forces as well as King Zhao killed, subsequently losing control of much conquered territory. The war ended the era of Western Zhou's early expansion and forced it into the defense against foreign aggressors. On the other side, Chu consolidated its de facto independence and would continue to grow into one of the most powerful states of China.
Zheng Zhenxiang is a Chinese archaeologist most famous for excavating the Bronze Age tomb of Fuhao at Anyang. She has been referred to as the 'First Lady of Chinese Archaeology'.
In 2001, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences organized a poll for China's 100 major archaeological discoveries in the 20th century. The participants included eight national-level institutions for archaeology and cultural relics, provincial-level archaeological institutes from 28 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions, as well as from Hong Kong, the archaeological departments of 11 major national universities, and many other scholars in Beijing. After three months and three rounds of voting, the results were announced on 29 March 2001 and were published in the journal Kaogu (Archaeology). In 2002, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Press published the book China's 100 Major Archaeological Discoveries in the 20th Century (二十世纪中国百项考古大发现), with more than 500 pages and 1,512 pictures.
The Feijiahe culture, also known as Zhangshutan-Feijiahe culture or Duimenshan-Feijiahe, is a Bronze Age archaeological culture in China. It has been commonly dated to approximately 1300 to 1000 BC. Centered in the area east of Dongting Lake, the Feijiahe culture was a post-Erligang culture marked by the increase of localized traditions.
