The Daxinzhuang site in Jinan City contains mainly remains of the Shang culture. In March 2003,inscribed oracle bones of that time were unearthed from there. Among them the largest- sized is a turtle abdomical shell consisting of four parts. It is carefully retouched,and bears circular and subelliptic hollows and firing traces for divination. The deciphered characters total 31, and the inscriptions are all oracular, with the positive and negative versions of the divining question occurring on the left and right respectively. Studies suggest that the oracular inscriptions from Daxinzhuang belong to the same system as those from the Yin Ruins, though a few characters show features of their own in composition. They should be dated to the time between the second and third phases d the Yin Ruins. As the first batch of Shang oracle-bone inscriptions unearthed beyond the Yin Ruins,they have great value and significance in the studies of oracle bones.
