Funerary objects unearthed from a craftsman’s tomb in Huanbei Shang city ruins at Yinxu, Anyang, Central China’s Henan province. Archaeological excavations have been ongoing at Yinxu, also known as the Yin Ruins, since 1928. Photo: National Cultural Heritage Administration

The front and back of a mold, which was used to cast bronze. The artifact was unearthed from a bronze casting workshop in the Huanbei Shang city ruins. The site has been undergoing excavation from 2015 to 2022, revealing the production methods of the Shang Dynasty’s copper casting, bone-making and pottery-making handicraft industries. Photo: Xinhua

Bones unearthed from a bone-making workshop at the Huanbei Shang city ruins. Photo: National Cultural Heritage Administration

Bronzeware from the Shang Dynasty unearthed from the Taojiaying site, which is 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) north of the palace area of Yinxu. Photo: National Cultural Heritage Administration

Artifacts unearthed from the Taojiaying site. The largest number of bronze and pottery tools were found during the excavation of the southwestern part of the site in 2021. Photo: National Cultural Heritage Administration

Pottery molds unearthed from the Xindian site. Since 2020, a large cluster of bronzeware workshops have been discovered at the site, located about 10 kilometers north of Yinxu’s palace area. More than 40,000 pieces of pottery molds were unearthed along with many other tools. Photo: National Cultural Heritage Administration

A tomb with a north-south path at the Shaojiapeng site. About 2.5 kilometers south of the palace area, three courtyard ruins have been found at the site. Photo: National Cultural Heritage Administration

Horse remains and chariots unearthed from the Shaojiapeng site. The discoveries include 18 houses and a graveyard with more than 20 tombs and four funeral pits where chariots and horses were buried. Photo: National Cultural Heritage Administration

Two inscribed oracle bones unearthed at Yinxu record the solar and lunar eclipses that happened during the Shang Dynasty. Oracle bone inscriptions, carved on turtle shells and ox bones, are the oldest-known Chinese writing system. Photo: National Cultural Heritage Administration