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All Japan Naha Yamashita Archaeological Cave
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Yamashita Archaeological Cave

Archaeologists continue to debate whether this site yielded the oldest human remains in Japan.

Naha, Japan

The small archaeological park in Naha.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
The cave.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
Replicas of the bones found at the site.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
The site.   Fred Cherrygarden / Atlas Obscura User
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About

In 1962, a local woman discovered a deposit of fossilized deer bones in a small cave in the town of Yamashita, located south of Mount Ōno in Naha. She informed the Ryukyu government, and, upon closer examination, traces of human tools were found on some of the bones.

Immediately, an archaeological dig was conducted, discovering pottery from the Pleistocene strata estimated to be about 32,000 years old. During another dig in 1968, the fossilized remains of an eight-year-old human girl were found at the cave site, dating back to the same period, older than any human remains previously known in Japan.

However, there remains a few problems with this claim, as the dating was done on the carbide found on the surface of the bones, rather than the bones themselves. Archaeologists continue to debate whether the “Yamashita cave girl” is the earliest known human in Japanese history or not.

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Caves Burial Places History & Culture Archaeology
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Published

August 29, 2024

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