Okinawa lies at the southwest tip of the Japanese archipelago and consists of a chain of a great number of islands. Presently the islands of Okinawa are sandwiched between the Japanese mainland and continental Asia but in ancient times they were connected to the Asian continent. There was migration from the continent by flora and fauna as evidenced by fossils unearthed in excavations.
It is not clear when humans came to inhabit the islands but fossil human bones from the Yamashita-cho Cave 1, excavated in Naha City, have been positively dated to 32,000 years ago and, in Gushigami-son village, the remains of the Minatogawa people have been dated to 17,000 years ago. These Paleolithic humans are thought to have crossed over on a land bridge from continental China but exact details remain unknown.
The Paleolithic Age in Okinawa
From the era of the Minatogawa humans there is a blank spot in our knowledge for about 10,000 years until the Neolithic era, around 7,000 years ago. This period in Japan extends through the Jomon Period (to 200BC) and is divided into the Early, First-half, Middle, Late, and Final Jomon Periods and as well as the Yayoi Period (200BC to 250AD). The Early and First-half of the Jomon period was one of thriving exchange between Okinawa and Kyushu. The middle period saw the development of independent cultures on the Okinawa and Amami Islands but the exchanges with Kyushu resumed in the Late Jomon. By the end of the Jomon, villages were forming and there appears to have been contact with China as well. These periods can be said to have been eras of active exchange with Kyushu.
In the Yayoi there are many remains in the coastal sand dunes where artifacts show trade with both Kyushu and China. Shells of Tricornis latissimus shellfish, used as raw material for making shell products, are typical of goods transported to Kyushu at that time. Aside from the earthenware brought in from Kyushu, the custom of burial in box-shaped stone coffins was transferred from Kyushu.
From the Kofun (Tumulus) era (250-552AD) through to the Heian Period (749-1185 AD), the society on the Okinawa and Amami Islands was in the hunter-gatherer stage and there was little contact with mainland Japan.
The Sakishima area, consisting of the Miyako and Yaeyama island groups, formed a different cultural sphere than the Okinawa and Amami island groups. There was no influence from the Jomon and Yayoi cultures and it is thought from existent remains that the Sakishima area had more in common with the southern regions of Asia.