While modern scientific discipline may enable us to forecast tomorrow ’s weather condition or plot the course of celestial physical object over chiliad of class , actually promise the future remain beyond us . However , in the daylight of theShang dynasty , which ruled primal China from the 16th to the 11th C BCE , inscriptions and markings made on so - call oracle bones were believe to unveil the aim of the ancestral feel controlling the fate of all living existence .
After scanning and 3D - printing a 3,000 - year - old oracle bone housed at Cambridge University Library , researcher have manage to reveal details of these engraving with great limpidity than ever before , provide key insights into living in Ancient China .
Typically , prophesier bonesconsisted of either wild ox bones or turtle shell , upon which diviner enroll questions organise toward the ancestors of the Shang regal family . Small pits were then dig into the underside of these item , which , when heated with a fire , would get snap to look on the surface . The shapes and patterns of these cracks were thought to encode messages from the ancestors , which diviner would rede for decode the trend of future events .
believe to be the oldest existing documents write in the Chinese speech , some 614 oracle os are presently give by Cambridge University Library . In celebration of the origination ’s 600th anniversary , one of these artifact has now become the first ever oracle ivory to be scanned and 3D - publish .
save on the shoulder blade of an ox , the ancient relic contains a number of melt inscriptions that previous methods of replication have failed to reveal . However , a high - resolution 3D example of the bone , created at the Media Studio of Addenbrooke ’s Hospital , has enabled researchers to observe many of these long - lose detail with outstanding clarity than ever before .
Among the engravings found on this particular seer bone is a record of a lunar eclipse that occurred in 1192 BCE , cast light on ancient Chinese astronomic method . The digitalise model of the bone can be explored below .
Cambridge UL Oracle Bone CUL.52 Hi ResbyProfessor Dominic PowleslandonSketchfab
investigator then borrowed the hospital ’s 3D pressman – which is normally used to make items that ease orthopedic surgery – for create a physical reproduction of the oracle bone .
Commentingon this accomplishment , Charles Aylmer of the Chinese Department at Cambridge University Library say : “ To control a 3D print of an oracle bone is a very peculiar experience , as it provide the same sensorial impression as that obtained by the people who created them over three thousand year ago , but without the hazard of harm to the priceless master . ”
