maximus otter
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During excavations at a 2,500-year-old archaeological site in Puyang, China, a set of 10 polished and painted bone slips or sticks were unearthed, all of which were inscribed with an ancient Chinese numbering system known as the Ten Heavenly Stems and the Twelve Earthly Branches (or the Tiangan (Dizhi)in Chinese). It is believed these bone slips were sacred items that would have been used in fortune telling sessions or during religious ceremonies organized to contact divine beings.
Due to the precious nature of the bone from which these bone slips were carved, Chinese folk culture expert Xiong Gang [said that] he believes the bone slips were created for “fortune-telling activities” and “ancient sacrificial ceremonies.”
Unadorned bone slips used for this purpose were “often made of the bones of animals like oxen,” he noted. They were produced quite frequently during the years when the Western Han Dynasty culture, which ruled from 206 to 9 AD.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/bone-slips-china-0020320
maximus otter
Due to the precious nature of the bone from which these bone slips were carved, Chinese folk culture expert Xiong Gang [said that] he believes the bone slips were created for “fortune-telling activities” and “ancient sacrificial ceremonies.”
Unadorned bone slips used for this purpose were “often made of the bones of animals like oxen,” he noted. They were produced quite frequently during the years when the Western Han Dynasty culture, which ruled from 206 to 9 AD.
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/bone-slips-china-0020320
maximus otter