Scientists have discovered that a 3,000-year-old collection of ancient Chinese 'oracle bones' used to decipher the collapse of the Shang dynasty, which may have influenced the cultural makeup of inland China roughly 3,00 years ago. The research involved a combination of artificial intelligence and physics-based modeling, which combined with paleoclimate reconstructions, found an increase in typhoon activity that may have contributed to cultural shifts. The findings were published in the journal Science Advances. The oracle bone script, which consists of inscriptions on turtle shells and ox shoulder bones, is one of the few times in human history that writing was invented independently and is the direct ancestor of modern Chinese characters still in use today. The study also found that typhoons may have significantly impacted climate extremes and social change in inland China around the same time as the collapse.