Japan Daily Press (2/17/14) reported that “tools made from shells have been discovered at the Sakitari-do cave in Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture.” Archaeologists “also discovered in the same geological rock … a human tooth and a foot bone.” Carbon dating indicates that the findings are “around 20,000 to 23,000 years old.” In Japan, these discoveries are the first from the Paleolithic Age. In 1968, skeletal remains of the Minatogawa Man (see photo below), dating back 16,000-18,000 years, were found a little less than a mile from the Sakitari-do cave.

Restoration model of Minatogawa Man. Exhibit in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan. Source.