Unearthing the Shang Dynasty's Secrets

Imagine buying "dragon bones" from an old pharmacy, only to find out you've discovered

proof of China's first real dynasty. That’s literally what happened. For centuries,

the Shang Dynasty was just a legend. Then, in 1899, scholars realized

these "dragon bones" being sold as medicine were actually turtle shells and ox bones covered in the earliest

known Chinese writing. They were oracle bones, used by Shang kings to predict the future

by heating them until they cracked. This led archaeologists to their last capital, Yinxu,

and what they found was wild. They unearthed massive royal tombs, palace foundations,

and thousands of ridiculously detailed bronze artifacts. But here's the messed-up part: they practiced