Oracle bones

Examples of Oracle bones in the following topics:

• Ceramics and Bronze in the Shang Dynasty

  • Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone, and ceramic artifacts have been obtained.
  • With over 200 bronze ritual vessels and 109 inscriptions of Lady Fu Hao's name, archaeologists realized they had stumbled across the tomb of the militant consort to King Wu Ding, as described in 170 to 180 Shang oracle bones.
  • Bronze vessels, stoneware and pottery vessels, bronze weapons, jade figures, hair combs, and bone hairpins were found.
  • The Shang had a fully developed system of writing, preserved on bronze inscriptions and a small number of other writings on pottery, jade, horn, and oracle bones.
  • With over 200 bronze ritual vessels and 109 inscriptions of Lady Fu Hao's name, archaeologists realized they had stumbled across the tomb of the militant consort to King Wu Ding, as described in 170 to 180 Shang oracle bones.

• Delphi and Greek Treasuries

  • Parnassus, was known for its Sanctuary of Apollo, the Delphic Oracle, and the Pythian Games.
  • Not only was the site the main place of worship for the god Apollo but it also was the home of an oracle.
  • The oracle was a sibyl or priestess known as a Pythia.
  • The oracle would place her tripod seat over the fissure, inhale the fumes, and then would be possessed by Apollo, allowing him to speak through her.
  • The treasuries were built by different poleis to honor the oracle, thank her for her advice, and commemorate military victories.

• Architecture in the Hellenistic Period

  • The Temple of Apollo at Didyma was both a temple and an oracle site.
  • The structure creates a series of imposing spaces from the exterior colonnade to the oracle rooms and the interior courtyard inside of which the shrine to Apollo stood.

• Architecture in Early South America

  • People went to Chavín de Huántar as a meeting center: to attend and participate in rituals or consult an oracle.

• The Ancient Greek Gods and Their Temples

  • For instance, the city of Delphi was known for its oracle and sanctuary of Apollo, because Apollo was believed to have killed a dragon that inhabited Delphi.

• Paleolithic Artifacts

  • The Paleolithic era has a number of artifacts that range from stone, bone, and wood tools to stone sculptures.
  • The Paleolithic era is characterized by the use of stone tools, although at the time humans also used wood and bone tools.
  • Constructed using flint and bone, the stone is believed to represent the upper part of a face, while the bone has been interpreted as eyes.
  • The area was also the site of discovery of many stone and bone tools such as hoes, scrapers, points, and gougers.
  • One bone fragment, an elephant tibia, has two groups of incised parallel lines which some have interpreted as an early example of art making.

• The Stone Age

  • There are also various examples of carved bone and ivory flutes in the Paleolithic era, indicating another art form utilized by prehistoric humans.
  • Paleolithic small sculptures are made of clay, bone, ivory, or stone and consist of simple figurines depicting animals and humans.
  • These figurines were carved from soft stone (such as steatite, calcite, or limestone), bone or ivory, or formed of clay and fired.
  • Also in this period, personal accessories and adornments were made from shell and bone.

• Paleolithic Sculpture

  • Sculptural work from the Paleolithic consists mainly of figurines, beads, and some decorative utilitarian objects constructed with stone, bone, ivory, clay, and wood.
  • These figures are all quite small, between 4 and 25 cm tall, and carved mainly in steatite, limestone, bone, or ivory.
  • Constructed using flint and bone, the stone is believed to represent the upper part of a face, while the bone has been interpreted as eyes.

• Inuit Art

  • The Dorset culture, which became culturally distinct around 600 BCE, produced a significant amount of figurative art using media such as walrus ivory, bone, caribou antler, and on rare occasions, stone.
  • All of the Thule objects were made by hand from natural materials, including stone, bone, ivory, antler, and animal hides.
  • Bowhead whales served many purposes for the Thule people, including meat for food, blubber for oil (used in cooking, heating, and providing light), and bones could for building structures and making tools.
  • A Thule site in Resolute Bay, Nunavut contains an example of a home whose frame used whale bones.

• Funerary Art

  • As cities became more crowded, bones were sometimes placed in ossuaries where they might be arranged for artistic effect, as at the Czech Sedlec Ossuary, which has a chandelier made of skulls and bones .
  • The Sedlec Ossuary, located in the Czech Republic, contains a chandelier that is constructed entirely of bones, with skulls interspersed.