Shinji Yamasaki

By Masaki Fujita, Shinji Yamasaki and Ryohei Sawaura

Roughly 35,000 years ago, hunting-fishing-gathering people occupied the Ryukyu Islands of Japan, a chain of small-sized islands in the western Pacific. There are Paleolithic sites scattered over most of the relatively large islands, thereby suggesting an extensive human dispersal over the sea at least 30,000 years ago. Recent morphological and genetic studies of the human fossils found in this area revealed that Paleolithic occupants might have an affinity with the modern and prehistoric populations of Southeast Asia. Recent excavation of Paleolithic sediments at Sakitari Cave, Okinawa Island, provided a variety of shell artifacts, including beads, scrapers, and fishhooks, and evidence of seasonal consumption of aquatic animals, especially freshwater crabs. The Paleolithic Ryukyu Islanders’ culture and lifestyle, which made use of unique resources, demonstrate behavioral adaptations to living on relatively small islands.

Part of the book: Pleistocene Archaeology

By Masaki Fujita, Fuzuki Mizuno and Shinji Yamasaki

Archeological sites dating back 30,000 years have been discovered throughout the Ryukyus and provided evidence for the migration of Homo sapiens across the sea during the late Pleistocene. A possible relationship to Southeast Asia is suggested, both from studies of artifacts and human remains. Subsequently, prehistoric people continued to inhabit at least several islands until the Holocene. From the end of the Pleistocene to the Holocene, the influence of Jomon culture extended to the Ryukyus, and people of the Jomon culture probably migrated from mainland Japan. One of the oldest evidence of pottery manufacture possibly related to incipient Jomon is found on Tokuno-Shima Island in central Ryukyu. This paper reviews the history of human migration to the Ryukyu Islands and discusses changes in their environment and culture.

Part of the book: The Prehistory of Human Migration