modern day China is a large country in East Asia

the Shang Dynasty was a series of Bronze Age rulers coming from the same family

a tomb is a place specially built to bury people who have died

jade is a very hard stone which is used for making jewellery and other objects

The discovery of Fu Hao's tomb

History

Who were the Shang?

Bronze dings

Jade artefacts

Oracle bones and writing

What archaeologists have found out about the Shang

In ‘The earliest civilisations: the Indus and the Shang’ pupils were encouraged to develop their understanding of the concept of civilisation. In ‘Iron Age Britain: what have historians learnt about Iron Age Britain?’ pupils are now invited to contrast their strong understanding of early civilisations with Iron Age Britain.

In ‘Sumer and other early civilisations: what made them similar?’ pupils encountered multiple early civilisations in overview in order to strengthen the concept of civilisation and to make connections between these. In ‘The earliest civilisations: the Indus and the Shang’ they are encouraged to develop their understanding of this concept even further. 

These units analyse the way in which archaeologists have found out about the Indus Valley Civilisation and the Shang dynasty. Whichever unit is chosen, pupils examine the archaeological record of an early civilisation and develop their knowledge of what claims are based on these remains.

The earliest civilisations: the Indus and the Shang

the Yellow River is a large river that flows from central to eastern China

an empire is a group of nations or peoples under one ruler

a ding is an object that can hold food, used for ceremonies or for display

a sacrifice is something given to a god or an ancestor as an act of worship

an ancestor is a person who was in someone's family in past times

a person's rank or importance compared to others is their status

something that is ornamental is used for decoration

the taotie is a mythical animal-like creature that is often used as decoration on items

mingqi are jade figures of servants, which were buried in the tombs of the wealthy to serve them in the afterlife

silk is a fine, soft, shiny fibre produced by silkworms

oracle bones were pieces of ox bone or turtle shell that were used by the Shang Dynasty to try to predict the future

a diviner is someone who tries to find out things about the future

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The earliest civilisations: the Indus and the Shang

The Shang: What have archaeologists found out about them?

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