Bone Hairpins at the Yinxu Site: Types,Origin & Development,and Functions

Unearthed bone hairpins from Yinxu, large in number and varying in type, are both utilitarian and symbolic in function. They were mainly buried with a small number of nobles, most of whom were female. This might demonstrate that the common burial custom at Yinxu was leaving hair untied after death. Buried bone hairpins are indicators of social status. A large number of bone hairpins unearthed from dwelling contexts suggests the Shang people’s preference for them, a continuous tradition since the Xiaqiyuan culture, indicating distinguishable hierarchy. Bone hairpins from Yinxu were necessary for daily life but also prestige goods, indicating differentiation in status, wealth, and hierarchy. Bone hairpins of the Yinxu style were used until the Western Zhou period. However, the rituality and symbolism behind the material gradually disappeared, which can be viewed as a material manifestation of reforms in power and ritual during the Shang and Zhou periods.