Dallas L. McCURLEY
Shang dynasty jade from the collection of the Shanghai Museum. Jade carvings represent some of the highest achievements in Bronze Age material culture. PHOTO BY JOAN LEBOLD COHEN.
1766 BCE–1045 BCE China’s first historically chronicled dynasty
The Shang inherited the ancestor cult and the use of bronze for ritual purposes from advanced precursors. Much of the information on them comes from inscriptions written on oracle bones used in divining. Later
