Qiu Xigui, who has died aged 89, first made his mark as a paleographer, a scholar of ancient writing, through researching Chinese “oracle bones”. These are divinations inscribed on animal scapulae – shoulder blades – or turtle plastrons – the bottom part of their shells. The characters they employ are the earliest known forerunners of the modern Chinese writing system.
Their appearance in the antiquities market led to the excavation from the late 1920s of the last capital of the Shang dynasty (c1600-1050 BC) at Yinxu, near Anyang, in Henan province.
