XXVII. A Funeral Elegy and a Family Tree inscribed on bone

Extract

The inscribed bone-fragment illustrated in the accompanying plates forms part of my collection, and was discovered among the large find of similar objects unearthed in 1899 in the province of Honan, North China. It is one of the larger pieces, measuring in its greatest length 10 inches by 7¼ at its broadest. The bone is part of the shoulder-blade of some domesticated animal apparently, and among the peculiarities it presents is the fact that at its extreme upper edge it has been pierced by a neatly bored round hole to admit a bone pin 3 inches long, shown detached in the plates. The shaft of this pin is inscribed on one side with six characters, while the fiat and rather elaborate head has archaic decoration on both sides. The purpose of the pin is not easy to determine, but I suggest that it may have been to fasten together the present bone and a second fragment similarly pierced, forming “page” 2 of this osseous document, which may have contained a further instalment of the text. If so, this second page is not now forthcoming.