Dating
The vast majority of the inscribed oracle bones date to the last 230 or so years of the Shang dynasty; oracle bones have been reliably dated to the fourth and subsequent reigns of the kings who ruled at Yin (modern Anyang)—from king Wu Ding to Di Xin. However, the dating of these bones varies from ca. the 14th to 11th centuries BCE, to ca. 1200–1050 BCE because the end date of the Shang dynasty is not a matter of consensus. The largest number date to the reign of king Wu Ding. Very few oracle bones date to the beginning of the subsequent Zhou Dynasty.
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Famous quotes containing the word dating:
“We go on dating from Cold Fridays and Great Snows; but a little colder Friday, or greater snow would put a period to man’s existence on the globe.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)