They date from the late Shang Dynasty, (circa 1250 B.C. to circa 1050 B.C.), although the Bronze Age Shang Dynasty ruled most of northern China from about 1600 B.C. — the earliest traditional Chinese ...

Since farmers began digging up ancient bone fragments in the fields around the Yellow River in eastern China over 100 years ago, researchers have been poring over the mysterious script found on them.