Definition: Yinxu is the last Shang dynasty capital city, located northwest of Anyang in Henan province, China. Over 3000 tombs, 2200 sacrificial pits, and 200 houses have been excavated at Yinxu, most dated to the late Shang period (1300 to 1046 BC). Yinxu was capital of the Shang dynasty between 1250 and 1046 BC, and included the end of the Shang, before it was conquered by the Zhou dynasty.
The site includes a main palace and ancestral tomb area within a temple precinct, measuring some 100x90 meters. In addition, there are many large-foundation buildings at Yinxu, at least 53 of which have been excavated to date.
Important discoveries at Yinxu include big hoards of oracle bones. Over 6,000 carved bones and turtle carapaces have been recovered to date, recording everything from dream interpretations to events such as harvests, the birth of a child, the weather, and the success of military campaigns.
Yinxu has seen decades of research. First excavated by the Academia Sinica in the late 1920s, early 1930s; most recently by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The site includes a main palace and ancestral tomb area within a temple precinct, measuring some 100x90 meters. In addition, there are many large-foundation buildings at Yinxu, at least 53 of which have been excavated to date.
Important discoveries at Yinxu include big hoards of oracle bones. Over 6,000 carved bones and turtle carapaces have been recovered to date, recording everything from dream interpretations to events such as harvests, the birth of a child, the weather, and the success of military campaigns.
Yinxu has seen decades of research. First excavated by the Academia Sinica in the late 1920s, early 1930s; most recently by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Sources
This glossary entry is part of the About.com Guide to the Shang Dynasty and the Dictionary of Archaeology.
Yang, Xiaoneng. 2004. Palace Ancestral temple zone and Oracle Bone Inscriptions from the Hoards at Yinxu, Anyang, Henan Province. Entry 50 in Yang, Xiaoneng (ed.) Chinese Archaeology in the Twentieth Century: New Perspectives on China's Past. Yale University Press, New Haven.
