Marine resource exploitation and maritime adaptation in the Southern Ryukyus during the Neolithic

A short report on the Shimotabaru shell mound, Okinawa, Japan

Bibliographic Data

ID24234390
AuthorsR Ono (0000-0002-0431-2007, National Museum of Ethnology), C Boulanger (Institute of Archaeology, University College London), Y Najima (Keio University), K Oohori (Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education), C Katagiri (Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education)
Year2026
Volume5
Publication date2026-10-08
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Environmental Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2813-432X • E-ISSN: 2813-432X
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/fearc.2026.1907657
OpenAlexW7220976665
LanguageEN
References cited46

In the Southern Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa, Japan), the most important and well-known site with Neolithic pottery is the Shimotabaru shell-mound, located on the south coast of Hateruma Island, approximately 200 km east of Taiwan. The site has yielded a large assemblage of ceramic sherds that are distinct from earlier Jomon pottery, which dates to between 10,000 and 6,000 years Before Present (BP) and was possibly introduced by Jomon hunter-gatherer populations from northern Japan (e.g., Kyushu Island). The site is dated to approximately 3,700–3,200 BP and has also produced numerous artefacts and faunal remains, including fish bones. This study presents a short zooarchaeological analysis of the excavated fish remains from the Shimotabaru site, recovered during the 1980s, to reconstruct maritime adaptation and marine resource use during the Neolithic. The results indicate a strong reliance on nearshore reef-associated fish, particularly large parrotfish and sharks, with no evidence of pelagic species, suggesting that fishing efforts were concentrated in shallow coastal waters. These findings contribute to broader discussions on subsistence strategies in early Austronesian migration contexts, providing insights into how prehistoric communities in the Ryukyu Islands exploited marine resources in comparison to contemporaneous sites in Island Southeast Asia and Oceania.

Austronesian migration · fish bones · Hateruma Island · Jomon pottery · marine resource exploitation · maritime adaptation · Neolithic · Parrotfish · reef fish · sharks · southern Ryukyu Islands · subsistence strategies · Zooarchaeology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

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