No. 4
鹿頭骨刻辭 (《甲編》3940, R041038)
Engraved deer skull (Part1(《甲編》) 3940, R041038)
出土時間:1931年小屯第4次發掘
Excavation date: 1931, 4th Xiaotun excavation
出土地點:河南省安陽縣小屯
Place of excavation: Xiaotun, Anyang County, Henan Province
實物長22.7公分,寬20.2公分
Object dimensions: length 22.7 cm, width 20.2 cm
拓片長23.2公分,寬20.81公分
Rubbing dimensions: length 23.2 cm, width 20.81 cm
中央研究院歷史語言研究所1931年第4次發掘所得,刻有甲骨文十餘字,為晚商第五期:帝乙、帝辛時的記事刻辭。此版為目前少見且保持完好的鹿頭骨刻辭,內容記載殷王征討方國後,回程在地進行田獵,並將獲得之獵物作為犧牲祭祀文武丁的事情,可能田獵獲鹿,就把相關的事刻在鹿頭上。
Obtained in the Institute of History and Philology's 4th Xiaotun excavation in 1931, and consisting of ten-odd oracle bone characters, it is a late Shang period 5 inscription: a graven record of affairs from the time of Di Yi and Di Xin. This piece is a rare and moreover completely well-preserved deer skull inscription, the contents of which record how the king of Yin, after a punitive attack on a neighboring state, proceeded to hunt at Hao on the return trip. Furthermore, he made the captured prey into a sacrificial offering for Wen Wu Ding. It is possible this inscription was engraved upon the skull of the very deer captured in the hunt.