" According to traditional historiography ruled in the Yellow river valley in the second millennium BC, succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Zhou dynasty. The classic account of the Shang comes from texts such as the Book of Documents, Bamboo Annals and Records of theGrand Historian. According to the traditional chronology based upon calculations made approximately 2,000 years ago by Lui Kin, the Shang ruled from 1766 to 1122 BCE, but according to the chronology based upon the "current text" of Bamboo Annals, they ruled from 1556 to 1046 BCE. The Xia- Shang -Zhou Chronologyprojectdated them from c. 1600 to 1046 BCE" says Wikipedia. Archaeological work at the Ruins of Yin , which has been identified as the last Shang capital, uncovered eleven major Yin royal tombs and the foundations of palaces and ritual sites, containing weapons of war and remains from both animal and human events. Tens of thousands of bronze, jade, stone, bone, and ceramic artifacts have been obtained.
The Shang dynasty is the next important dynasty right after the Xia dynasty. When the Xia dynasty had ended the Shang dynasty replaced it.The Anyang site has yielded the earliest known body of Chinese Writing , mostly divinations inscribed on oracle bones – turtle shells, ox scapulae, or other bones. More than 20,000 were discovered in the initial scientific excavations during the 1920s and 1930s, and over four times as many have been found since.
Did you know another name for the Shang dynasty is the Yin dynasty and another important dynasty that followed the Shang dynasty is called the Zhou dynasty! So go check out the Zhou dynasty under Dynasties at Zhou dynasty!