Inscribed Deer Skull

Accession No. R041038
Period Shang Dynasty
Material Bones
Findspot Hsiao-t'un, Yin-xu Site
Geographic Location Hsiao-t'un village, Anyang, Honan province, China
Dimension H. 22.7 cm; W. 20.2 cm

Description

These deer skull inscriptions date to the time of Kings Diyi or Dixin. They recorded the game captured by the King at Hao on his return trip from a military expedition. Currently, only two such inscribed deer skulls have been unearthed by archeologists, and both are housed in IHP. This is one of the two pieces.