This concept defines the Bronze Age as a societal stage marked by developed metalworking, written records, and complex hierarchical social stratification, with bronze serving as the premier material of political and spiritual power; it also introduces oracle bones as a divination-based writing system through which rulers communicated with ancestral spirits to guide governance decisions. It belongs to Chinese archaeology and art history (Shang dynasty), relating to its parent discipline through the principle that art objects must be understood via the technology and social context of their original production and use, and that dynastic succession provides an organizing historical framework.
This concept defines the Bronze Age as a societal stage marked by developed metalworking, written records, and complex hierarchical social stratification, with bronze serving as the premier material …