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The Tokaras are separated from Amami Ôshima by a section of the [[Kuroshio]] current known as the Shichitô-nada, which historically made migration and trade between the two somewhat more difficult, separating the [[Ryukyuan languages]] from Kyushu dialects of Japanese and creating a natural barrier as well, leading to differences in flora and fauna between the two island groups. The southernmost end of the Kuroshio also forms a similar barrier between Yonaguni and Taiwan, contributing to both natural and human separations between the southern Ryukyus and Taiwan as well.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 17.</ref>
The Tokaras are separated from Amami Ôshima by a section of the [[Kuroshio]] current known as the Shichitô-nada, which historically made migration and trade between the two somewhat more difficult, separating the [[Ryukyuan languages]] from Kyushu dialects of Japanese and creating a natural barrier as well, leading to differences in flora and fauna between the two island groups. The southernmost end of the Kuroshio also forms a similar barrier between Yonaguni and Taiwan, contributing to both natural and human separations between the southern Ryukyus and Taiwan as well.<ref>Smits, ''Maritime Ryukyu'', 17.</ref>
The islands of the Ryûkyû archipelago include both "high" islands formed by volcanic activity (like most of the islands of the Japanese archipelago) and "low" islands made of coral limestone. "High" islands such as Yakushima, Amami Ôshima, Kakeroma, Tokunoshima, Iheya, Kumejima, Tonaki, the Kerama Islands, Iriomote, Yonaguni, and the northern portions of Okinawa and Ishigaki Islands, generally have somewhat acidic soil, and more streams and rivers, while "low" islands such as Tanegashima, Kikaijima, Okinoerabu, Yoron, Miyakojima and the islands immediately surrounding it, Irabu, Tarama, Taketomi, Hateruma, and the central and southern portions of Okinawa and Ishigaki Islands, have more neutral or alkaline soil, fewer streams or rivers, and fewer trees. Springs and underground caves are the primary source of fresh water, and while limestone for building walls, tombs, and other structures is plentiful, lumber for construction or firewood is not.<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Early Ryukyuan History: A New Model'', Univ. of Hawaii Press (2024), 64-65.</ref> There are no serious mountains in the Ryukyus, and the average height above sea level across the entire archipelago is a tiny fraction of that of the far more mountainous islands of Japan and Taiwan.
Traditionally, regions of the Ryukyus were referred to by poetic placenames using the word for "mountain" (''san'' or ''zan''). Prior to the unification of the island, Okinawa itself was divided into Hokuzan, Chûzan, and Nanzan. The distant Miyako and Ishigaki Islands were referred to as Taiheizan 太平山, Iheya and Izena, just west of Okinawa, were referred to as Yôhekizan 葉壁山, and the Kerama Islands were called Bashizan 馬歯山.<ref>Kitahara Shûichi. ''A Journey to the Ryukyu Gusuku'' 琉球城紀行, Naha: Miura Creative (2003), 84.</ref>
Traditionally, regions of the Ryukyus were referred to by poetic placenames using the word for "mountain" (''san'' or ''zan''). Prior to the unification of the island, Okinawa itself was divided into Hokuzan, Chûzan, and Nanzan. The distant Miyako and Ishigaki Islands were referred to as Taiheizan 太平山, Iheya and Izena, just west of Okinawa, were referred to as Yôhekizan 葉壁山, and the Kerama Islands were called Bashizan 馬歯山.<ref>Kitahara Shûichi. ''A Journey to the Ryukyu Gusuku'' 琉球城紀行, Naha: Miura Creative (2003), 84.</ref>
==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. 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> however, other archaeological and genetic research has argued that prehistoric populations as far south as Miyako Island had their origins in Jômon populations, and not Austronesian ones.<ref>Martine Robbeets, Mark Hudson, et al. "Triangulation supports agricultural spread of the Transeurasian languages," ''Nature'' 10 Nov 2021, 5, citing Hudson, M. J. in ''New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory'' (eds Piper, P.,
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 in [[Naha]] on Okinawa Island, dating to roughly 32-35,000 years ago, roughly 12-15,000 years earlier than the famous [[Minatogawa man]] remains found in [[Nakagusuku village]] (also in central Okinawa Island).<ref>Gregory Smits, ''Early Ryukyuan History: A New Model'', University of Hawaii Press (2024), 67-68.</ref> 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> however, other archaeological and genetic research has argued that prehistoric populations as far south as Miyako Island, and perhaps throughout the archipelago, even down to Yonaguni Island, had their origins in Jômon populations, and not Austronesian ones.<ref>Martine Robbeets, Mark Hudson, et al. "Triangulation supports agricultural spread of the Transeurasian languages," ''Nature'' 10 Nov 2021, 5, citing Hudson, M. J. in ''New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory'' (eds Piper, P., H. Matsumura, H. & Bulbeck, D.) 189–199 (ANU Press, 2017).; Smits, ''Early Ryukyuan History'', 6.</ref> The latest research suggests that "whatever the mix of people living in the Ryukyu Arc circa 2,000 years ago may have been, it included some people who resembled neither the Jōmon nor Yayoi populations of Japan."<ref>Smits, ''Early Ryukyuan History'', 69.</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.
H. Matsumura, H. & Bulbeck, D.) 189–199 (ANU Press, 2017).</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>