What archaeologists have found out about the Shang | History

Starter quiz

The people of the Shang Dynasty lived around...
- the River Nile
- the Yellow River ✓
- the Euphrates River
They wrote questions and answers on oracle...
- 'bones' ✓
Put the following into the correct order.
- 1
  
  ⇔
  
  The Shang Dynasty began.
- 2
  
  ⇔
  
  Diviners wrote on oracle bones.
- 3
  
  ⇔
  
  The Shang Dynasty ended.
- 4
  
  ⇔
  
  A Chinese historian bought some ‘dragon bones’ for an illness.
- 5
  
  ⇔
  
  Archaeologists began to dig at the ancient Shang Dynasty capital city.
The job of the ______ was to use oracle bones to find out the future.
- 'diviner' ✓
Oracle bones were used to ask questions to the __________ of the Shang Dynasty.
- friends
- kings and queens
- ancestors and gods ✓
Historians have learned a lot about the Shang Dynasty from oracle bones.
- True ✓
- False

Match the keyword to the correct definition.
- oracle bone
  
  ⇔
  
  ox bone or turtle shell used to predict the future ✓
- taotie
  
  ⇔
  
  a mythical animal-like creature that is often used as decoration ✓
- ancestor
  
  ⇔
  
  a person who was in someone's family in past times ✓
The Shang Dynasty started in China in...
- 6000 BCE
- 1600 BCE ✓
- 50 BCE
The Shang Dynasty started in the ______ River Valley.
- 'Yellow' ✓
Select the items that show the ancestors were important to the Shang Dynasty.
- bronze dings ✓
- weapons
- shells
- oracle bones ✓
The Shang used picture symbols for writing.
- True ✓
- False
Fu Hao's tomb has shown archaeologists that...
- women were not powerful.
- women were not allowed to lead armies.
- women could lead armies and be as powerful as men. ✓

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The Shang were accomplished in using jade and bronze to create art, weapons and other objects.
Fu Hao's tomb has shown archaeologists that women could rise to positions of power.
Shang bronze dings and oracle bones show how they worshipped their ancestors.
Archaeologists also know lots about the Shang because of all the writing found on oracle bones.
A good explanation of the things archaelogists have found out about the Shang will use knowledge from across this unit.

Women could not hold positions of power in the Shang Dynasty.

The tomb of Fu Hao tells us that she was a powerful queen and one of the most successful and important army generals of her time.

Oracle bones - oracle bones were pieces of ox bone or turtle shell that were used by the Shang Dynasty to try to predict the future
Ancestor - an ancestor is a person who was in someone's family in past times
Taotie - the taotie is a mythical animal-like creature that is often used as decoration on items