What was life like during the Shang Dynasty, and what effect did writing have on Chinese culture and government?
Royal Burials at AnyangEleven large tombs and more than a thousand small graves have been excavated at the royal burial ground at Anyang. In 2005 seven pits were discovered in which horses and chariots had been buried to accompany a king in the afterlife. (© CHINA NEWSPHOTO/Reuters/Corbis)
AArchaeological evidence indicates that after 2000 B.C.E. a Bronze Age civilization appeared in north China that shared traits with Bronze Age civilizations elsewhere in Eurasia, such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece. These traits included writing, metalworking, domestication of the horse, class stratification, and cult centers. The archaeological findings are linked to the Shang Dynasty, long known from early texts.