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==History==
==History==
===Early History===
===Early History===
The archaeological record shows that human habitation in the Ryukyus began roughly 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. No archaeological remains have been found for the period from roughly 16,000 and 7000 BCE. Beginning around 7000 BCE, however, more recent major waves of immigration began to enter the Northern and Central Ryukyus from the north (Kyushu), and beginning around 2900 BCE, entering the Sakishima Islands from the south.
The archaeological record shows that human habitation in the Ryukyus began roughly 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. Some of the earliest have been found on Ishigaki Island, dating to roughly 28,000 years ago, roughly 6,000 years earlier than the famous [[Minatogawa Man]] remains found on Okinawa Island. Some have suggested that this shows that the islands were originally settled primarily through a migration of peoples from the south - i.e. Austronesian peoples from Taiwan, and not Japonic peoples from the north.<ref>Amanda Stinchecum, "Changing Parameters, Expressions, and Meanings of a Simple Sash from Yaeyama Islands," Okinawan Art in its Regional Context symposium, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 10 Oct 2019.</ref> No archaeological remains have been found for the period from roughly 16,000 and 7000 BCE. Beginning around 7000 BCE, however, more recent major waves of immigration began to enter the Northern and Central Ryukyus from the north (Kyushu), and beginning around 2900 BCE, entering the Sakishima Islands from the south.
Agriculture is not believed to have begun in the islands until around 800 CE, with islanders previously subsisting in hunter-gatherer communities. [[Iron]]working, meanwhile, is believed to have been introduced to the Amami Islands around 500 CE, and to have spread to the other Ryukyus from there.<ref>Pearson, 148.</ref>
Agriculture is not believed to have begun in the islands until around 800 CE, with islanders previously subsisting in hunter-gatherer communities. [[Iron]]working, meanwhile, is believed to have been introduced to the Amami Islands around 500 CE, and to have spread to the other Ryukyus from there.<ref>Pearson, 148.</ref>
