Primary Objectives of the Interdisciplinary Discussion on the Problems of the Late Pleistocene-Holocene Periods in the Ryukyu Islands

Abstract

The Ryukyu Islands, about 1, 200km. in length, are arc islands between Kyushu and Taiwan (Fig. 1). The islands have been considered unique in their Quaternary landforms and geology compared with the main islands of Japan, because of the distribution of living coral reefs and the Quaternary Ryukyu Limestone. In addition to the geomorphological and geological researches, anthropology, paleontology and archeology of the islands have been intensively studied. Especially the ages, routes and methods of arrival of the paleolithic men and mammals to the islands in the Pleistocene period have been discussed. In the past several years, discoveries of some artifacts indicating the older limit of the neolithic age were presented. The theme, “Problems of the late Pleistocene-Holocene periods in the Ryukyu Islands, ” is selected for this symposium so that it will provide a common ground for discussion from the various fields.
The following topics may be discussed in the symposium.
(1) Sedimentary environments and ages of the Ryukyu Limestone.
(2) Stratigraphy of the Ryukyu Limestone and the Kunigami Gravel bed.
(3) Modes of the crustal movement.
(4) Sea level changes (ex. sea level of the last glacial maximum).
(5) Routes and methods of arrival of the paleolithic men and mammals to the islands.
(6) Relation between the neolithic cultures in the Ryukyu Islands and the Jomon-Yayoi cultures in the main islands of Japan.
(7) Relation between the neolithic cultures of the Sakishima Islands and those of the Okinawa Islands and northward.