SEID Lab: Oracle Bones

The Oracle Bones Project is an educational, interactive experience designed to walk players through the history and creation of oracle bones and the etymology of Mandarin characters since the Shang Dynasty. The oracle bones were a form of divination that involved carving a question into a bone or tortoise shell, cracking the bone in a fire, and then interpreting answers the cracks revealed. They are the primary historical record of the time and the earliest known extensive record of ancient Chinese. Our game will offer a unique, tactile glimpse into a relatively obscure, understudied part of history.