Answer:
A. discovery of oracle bones
Explanation:
The Shang Dynasty is the second dynasty in the history of China and the first whose historical existence is documented. Its territorial extension included the valley of the Yellow river.
Until the twentieth century many experts doubted the real existence of the Shang dynasty, since no evidence was available about it; all mentions of Shang kings appeared in Chinese works written many centuries later, during the Zhou era. However, numerous and interesting archaeological discoveries made throughout the 20th century confirmed the existence of this dynasty and therefore the reliability of the texts of the Zhou period. The main archaeological finds in the Yellow River valley that have confirmed the existence of the Shang kings are the ritual bronze objects and, most especially, the oracular bones, turtle shells (plastrons) and large scapulae of animals (mostly part of cattle) on which were made and wrote oracular predictions based on pyromancy.
These inscriptions typically had three sections: a question for the oracle, the answer of the oracle, and the result that reflected whether the oracle was right. These texts written in the oracular bones are the oldest preserved form of Chinese writing and have played a fundamental role in recent research on the origin and development of Chinese characters. The information provided by the oracular bones provides a privileged view of the early stages of Chinese civilization on various aspects, such as politics, economy, culture, religion, geography, astronomy, calendar, art and medicine.
