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China

Yinxu

Ancient China · China

Field notes

civilizations: Ancient China
types: City
occupied: 1,300 BCE — 1,046 BCE
country: China

The site

Yinxu, the "Ruins of Yin," marks the final capital of China's Shang dynasty, sprawling near modern Anyang in Henan Province. Here, amid palace foundations and royal tombs, archaeologists uncovered oracle bones inscribed with the earliest known Chinese writing. Forgotten for millennia, the site was rediscovered in 1899 when investigators traced inscribed bones being sold nearby, sparking decades of excavation. UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 2006.

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