16 May 1976 – a warm sunny day as Zheng was to recall – began as a typical day on site and ended with a remarkable discovery. Zheng Zhenxiang was leading an archaeological team at Yinxu, Anyang in China looking for evidence of tombs from the Shang Dynasty period. This...

What do all the Ancient Civilisations have in common? This enquiry provides an overview of the Ancient Civilisations of Egypt, Sumer, Indus Valley and Shang, showing where and when they developed, the similarities between them and how they relate to a broadly based chronological understanding of the past. It provides a...

The Shang Dynasty of ancient China is a perfect topic to explore history alongside art and design. The only written information that remains from the Shang period is from the inscriptions found on oracle bones or artworks. Most of what we know about the Shang has been determined from the...

1. Investigating the Shang Dynasty; 2. History in the primary curriculum - what does it offer?

Children can be introduced to evidence of the Shang Dynasty in China from the tomb of Fu Hao, dated around 1250BC and discovered in 1976. They can use the evidence to find out about the Shang, but also to find out what we can’t tell about the Shang from one...

I will be honest – no child has actually asked me if the world was ever full of Ancient Egyptians! Having said that, by focusing on one part of the world, children are left with either this impression or the idea that nothing was happening elsewhere in the world. Clearly,...

04 Editorial 05 HA Primary News 06 Learning in the Early Years through Local People and Places: developing historical concepts in the Early Years Foundation Stage - Alison Hales (Read article) 08 Enquiry: developing puzzling, enjoyable, effective historical investigations - Ian Dawson (Read article) 15 Key Stage 1 local history...

The Shang Dynasty of China, based around the Yellow River area, is regarded as the first Chinese dynasty that we have written evidence for. It was established in around 1760 BC when Tang set up his capital in the city of Bo. Over the next 600 or 700 years the Shang Empire grew and shrank,...