Yinxu

Yinxu, the Ruins of Yin, is an archaeological site in the Yindu District of Anyang in Henan, China, that marks Yin, the last capital of the Shang dynasty. Yin served as the Shang capital in the Late Shang period, roughly 1250 to 1046 BCE, across the reigns of twelve kings, and it is where oracle bone script, the earliest known Chinese writing, emerged. Traditional accounts say the king Pan Geng moved the capital there, and the city fell into ruin after the Zhou overthrew the Shang. The site was forgotten for centuries until its rediscovery in 1899, when scholars traced oracle bones sold as dragon bones to the nearby village of Xiaotun, and decades of excavation followed. It is one of the oldest and largest archaeological sites in China, UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 2006, and the public may visit it.