Posted on 10/29/2008 5:27:53 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Inscribed animal bones and jade pieces unearthed in Changle County of eastern Shandong Province are earliest examples of Chinese characters dating back 4,500 years ago, the latest archaeological studies show.
The discovery broke the record for the previous earliest known examples of Chinese characters, the inscribed animal bones and tortoise shells, known as the oracle bones, of the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1100 BC), by more than 1,300 years. The oracle bones were major discoveries at the Yinxu in Anyang of central China's Henan Province...
Li Laifu, the Shandong Oracle Scripts Association president, said the inscriptions may be left by the Dongyi people who lived in what is today's Shandong Province as early as 8,300 years ago. They made birds as their totem.
However, archaeologists speculated from the bones' color, structure, and degree of their petrifaction, that the scripts had existed for about 4,500 years...
The discoveries were named the "Changle bone scripts" after the place where they were found. Though they could not be translated at present, archaeologists believed they may provide valuable evidence in the studies of the evolution of ancient Chinese characters, and to reproduce a picture of an ancient society that was barely known.
Oracle bones were first unearthed in the late 19th century at the ruins of Yin (Yinxu) in Anyang, capital of the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1100 BC). Yin was the ancient name for the Shang Dynasty. The ruins were listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.xinhuanet.com ...
‘Earliest Writing’ Found In China
BBC | 4-17-2003 | Paul Rincon
Posted on 04/18/2003 9:35:03 AM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/895879/posts
Prehistoric Oriental ‘Venus’ Carved On Cliff Discovered In Ningxia
Peoples Daily | 12-23-2003
Posted on 12/23/2003 5:43:09 PM EST by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1045703/posts
China: Archeologists shake up history
(Jinsha Ruins, Sanxingdui Culture)
Taipei Times | 07/13/05
Posted on 07/13/2005 7:21:21 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1441905/posts
‘Earliest Chinese Characters’ Unearthed
Xinhua News | 10-19-2006
Posted on 10/20/2006 1:51:02 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1723033/posts
Cliff carvings may rewrite history of Chinese characters
Xinhua News Agency | 5-18-07 | unknown
Posted on 05/18/2007 10:33:37 AM PDT by Renfield
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1835863/posts
Chinese writing ‘8,000 years old’
BBC | Friday, May 18, 2007
Posted on 05/18/2007 11:54:50 AM PDT by Jedi Master Pikachu
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1835902/posts
-also of interest-
Central Asia’s Lost Civilization
Discover Magazine | November 2006 | Andrew Lawler
Posted on 11/01/2006 11:47:33 PM PST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1730527/posts
Unknown Writing System Uncovered On Ancient Olmec Tablet
scienceagogo | 15 September 2006 | by Kate Melville
Posted on 07/30/2008 6:58:45 PM PDT by Fred Nerks
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2054048/posts
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interesting, the history behind the whole chinese character set...
"The bones and jade don't bear deviation marks such as drills, or chisel and burn traces, so the writing maybe for keeping records of events."
I wish them luck in their translations. More proof that the Chinese Civilization didn't suddenly spring to life with the Shang. Now that they are doing better work in China, the old assumptions are bound to change in unpredictable ways (evidenced by your list of articles and with this article).
cool.
Yeah, exactly, if the writing medium was mostly not of a material that would endure for long, the development of an ancient writing system can’t be documented now, and therefore appears to have come out of thin air.
If modern man indeed appeared 100,000 years ago, no way do I believe that the concept of writing first appeared 4,500 years ago.
Thanks.
Now, if they could find the original Mah Jongg set...
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