Japan's 'oldest' human bone found on Ishigaki Island

Japan's 'oldest' human bone found on Ishigaki Island

ISHIGAKI, Japan - Photo taken on Nov. 10, 2011, shows a site around the Shirahosaonetabaru cave ruins on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan. A team of Japanese researchers led by Minoru Yoneda, an anthropologist and associate professor at the University of Tokyo's graduate school, said the same day that a human bone fragment from about 24,000 years ago was found in the cave. It would be the oldest human fragment among those identified through analysis of such remains in Japan, according to the researchers.

Japan's 'oldest' human bone found on Ishigaki Island

Japan's 'oldest' human bone found on Ishigaki Island

ISHIGAKI, Japan - Photo taken on Nov. 10, 2011, shows a site around the Shirahosaonetabaru cave ruins on Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan. A team of Japanese researchers led by Minoru Yoneda, an anthropologist and associate professor at the University of Tokyo's graduate school, said the same day that a human bone fragment from about 24,000 years ago was found in the cave. It would be the oldest human fragment among those identified through analysis of such remains in Japan, according to the researchers. (Kyodo)

Japan's 'oldest' human bone found on Ishigaki Island

Japan's 'oldest' human bone found on Ishigaki Island

NAHA, Japan - Photo taken on Nov. 10, 2011, in the town of Nishihara, Okinawa Prefecture, shows a human bone fragment which a team of Japanese researchers said the same day is about 24,000 years old and was found in the Shirahosaonetabaru cave ruins on Ishigaki Island in the prefecture, southern Japan. It would be the oldest human fragment among those identified through analysis of such remains in Japan, according to the team led by Minoru Yoneda, an anthropologist and associate professor at the University of Tokyo's graduate school. (Kyodo)