Editing History of the Ryukyu Islands (section)

===Prehistoric period===
The ancestry of the modern-day [[Ryukyuan people]] is disputed. One theory claims that the earliest inhabitants of these islands crossed a prehistoric land bridge from modern-day China, with later additions of [[Austronesian people|Austronesians]], [[Micronesians]], and Japanese merging with the population.<ref>[http://ejournal.anu.edu.au/index.php/bippa/article/viewFile/690/654 An Austronesian Presence in Southern Japan: Early Occupation in the Yaeyama Islands] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220193607/http://ejournal.anu.edu.au/index.php/bippa/article/viewFile/690/654 |date=February 20, 2011 }}, Glenn R. Summerhayes and Atholl Anderson, Department of Anthropology, [[Otago University]], retrieved November 22, 2009</ref> The time when human beings appeared in Okinawa remains unknown. The earliest human bones were those of [[Yamashita Cave Man]], about 32,000 years ago, followed by [[Pinza-Abu Cave Man]], [[Miyakojima (cave man)|Miyakojima]], about 26,000 years ago and [[Minatogawa Man]], about 18,000 years ago. They probably came through China and were once considered to be the direct ancestors of those living in Okinawa. No stone tools were discovered with them. For the following 12 000 years, no trace of [[archaeological site]]s was discovered after the Minatogawa man site.{{Citation needed|date= May 2011}}<ref>{{Citation | first = Arashiro | last = Toshiaki | title = High School History of Ryukyu, Okinawa | publisher = Toyo Kikaku | year = 2001 | pages = 10–11 | isbn = 4-938984-17-2}} in which 3 more sites in Okinawa are described. Coral islands favor the preservation of olden human bones.</ref>