| Shiraho Saonetabaru Cave Ruins | |
| Native Name: | 白保竿根田原洞穴遺跡 |
| Map Type: | Japan |
| Map Alt: | Shiraho Saonetabaru Cave Ruins |
| Map Size: | 240 |
| Relief: | yes |
| Coordinates: | 24.3825°N 124.2058°W |
| Location: | Ishigaki Island of the Yaeyama Islands |
| Region: | Japan |
is a paleoanthropological site located on Ishigaki Island of the Yaeyama Islands in Japan. Shiraho Saonetabaru is a limestone cave.
It was discovered in 2007 when plans for the New Ishigaki Airport were being developed. Remains of human heads, feet and arms were found, in all 9 bone fossils, by the Okinawa Limestone Cave Association between 2007 and 2009,[1] and three human samples were dated to between 20,000-16,000 years before present.[2] In the ruins were also found bones from wild boar and birds (one animal bone calibrated at 12,000 BP[2]), while during the three months in 2011 were discovered approximately 300 human bones from the stratum between 24,000-20,000 years old.[3]
In 2015, researchers from the University of the Ryukyus and University of Tokyo succeeded in radiocarbon dating three out of five of the bones tested. The three bones yielded the following dates: (20,030 to 18,100 years BP), (22,890 to 22,400 years BP) and (24,990 to 24,210 years BP).[4]
The investigation held between 2012 and 2016 found more than 1,000 human fragments from at least 19 human skeletons. The "No. 4" almost full skeleton was dated about 27,000 BP,[5] being the oldest full skeleton discovered in East Asia and several thousand years older than the skeletons of the Minatogawa people.[6] Due to the skeletons' postures, the site has been confirmed as the first graveyard in the Paleolithic age in Japan.[5]