Identification of Fibers Attached to the Oracle Bones of the Shang Dynasty in the Collection of Huan Bao Zhai

The phenomenon of textiles attached to the surface of oracle bones has attracted the attention of the academic community since 1975, but there has always been a technical bottleneck and academic controversy in the identification of its fiber types. Taking the textile fibers attached to six oracle bones in the collection of Huan Bao Zhai as the research object, the microstructure of the residual textiles was observed by means of super depth-of-field microanalysis. Combined with Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM) to understand the characteristics of fiber morphology, and while comparing modern silk, cotton, kapok, and hemp fibers, it was determined that the fiber attached to the oracle bone of the Shang dynasty is hemp and ramie fibers. This suggests that the Shang dynasty would have used bast-fiber ropes binding the oracle bones for storage. This kind of rope might be “Sacrificial cloth” offered to the spirits. The study fills a missing link in the ancient literature about the divination process of oracle bones and provides a useful supplement to the study of ancient Chinese historical materials.