[[File:Zhou-inscription.png|thumb|right|upright|Hand copy of a Zhou inscription{{sfnm|Liu|1989|1p=67|Gao|1996|2p=327}}]]
TheThere numbersare ofrelatively few oracle bones withbone inscriptions contemporaneousdating withafter the endconquest of the Shang andby the beginning of [[Zhou isdynasty]] relatively({{circa|1046{{sbc}}}}). fewFrom intheir numberinitial compareddiscovery withduring the entire corpus of Shang inscriptions. Until 19771950s, only a fewhandful inscribedof shellexamples andfrom bonethis artifactslater wereperiod known. Zhou related inscriptions havehad been uneartheduncovered, sinceand thethose 1950s,that withdid findwere fragments havingconsisting of only one or two characters. In August 1977, a largecache hoardcontaining thousands of severalZhou-era thousandoracle piecesbones was discovered inat ana areasite closely relatedlinked to the ancient Zhou heartland of the. ancientAmong Zhou.thousands Ofof thesepieces, only200–300 twobore or three hundred items were inscribedinscriptions.
