To hold a 3D print of an oracle bone is a very special experience, as it provides the same sensory impression as that obtained by the people who created them over three thousand years ago.
- Charles Aylmer
Cambridge University Library, which is celebrating its 600th anniversary this year, holds 614 Chinese inscribed oracle bones in its collection. They are the oldest extant documents written in the Chinese language, dating from 1339-1112 BCE. Inscribed on ox shoulder blades and the flat under-part of turtle shells, they record questions to which answers were sought by divination at the court of the royal house of Shang, which ruled north central China at that time.
The inscriptions on the bones provide much insight into many aspects of early Chinese society, such as warfare, agriculture, hunting, medical problems, meteorology and astronomy.
Among the latter is a record of a lunar eclipse dated to 1192 BCE, one of the earliest such accounts in any civilisation.
Charles Aylmer, Head of the Chinese Department at Cambridge University Library, said: “Some of the bones have already been included in the Cambridge Digital Library, but now new technology provides readers around the world an even closer look at these precious artefacts.
“In what is believed to be a world first, one of the bones (which features in the 600th anniversary exhibition Lines of Thought) has been digitised in 3D thanks to the work of archaeologist Professor Dominic Powlesland, one of the leading pioneers in this area.”
The high-resolution image of the bone, which measures about 9x14 cm, knits together 1.3 million aspects to allow a seamless view of its entire surface.
Read the full story
Image: 3D oracle bones
Credit:Cambridge University Library
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
_____________________________________________