Posted on 11/14/2008 8:53:14 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Archaeologists in Shaanxi province have unearthed more than 1,100 oracle bone characters, shedding new light on the number of such inscriptions in existence.
The find was made at a cluster of tombs in Qishan county that date back to the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-771 BC).
Lei Xingshan, head of the dig team, said in Xi'an yesterday: "Prior to our discovery at the Temple of Duke Zhou, less than 1,100 Chinese characters written on pieces of bone and tortoiseshell had ever been found."
Members of the team have been unearthing scripts almost every day since the excavation began on Sept 1, and there are now more than 1,100 readable words, which is a new record, he said.
Among the finds is the character for "king", which could help archaeologists learn more about the lives of the Zhou kings and the region in which they lived, Lei said...
"Coincidentally, we also found several items from the Yangshao period of the neolithic era (5,000-7,000 years ago); the first time such relics have been found near the Temple of Duke Zhou," he said...
Since the first oracle bones were found in 1898, Chinese archaeologists have unearthed more than 100,000 pieces of bone and tortoiseshell inscribed with characters.
(Excerpt) Read more at chinadaily.com.cn ...
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http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/90874/6625554.html
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/90874/6625554.pdf
Over 2,200 oracle bone inscriptions discovered
14:31, March 30, 2009
By People’s Daily Online
Chinese archaeologists recently identified and analyzed over 7,000 oracle bones from the Western Zhou Dynasty unearthed at the Zhougong Temple site in Qishan County of Shaanxi Province. The characters found on these bones already number over 2,200, the greatest number among China’s eight ruins where Zhou Dynasty oracle bone inscriptions have been discovered.
Last year, the Zhougong Temple archaeology team conducted an archaeological excavation in large lime soil ruins in front of the Zhougong Temple. They unearthed over 7,000 pieces of oracle bones, 688 of which were inscribed with characters.
The archaeology team organized technicians to conduct thorough cleaning, fitting and comparing, piecing together and photographing of the oracle bones, while also carrying out careful microscopic observation. They also invited well-known paleography experts to help identify the characters. Over 2,200 oracle bone inscriptions were eventually discovered and among them, recognizable characters account for over 1,600.
Reporters learned that from the 1,600 plus recognizable characters, experts presume to have discovered the name of the father of King Wen of Zhou for the first time.
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