Austronesian colonization of Tsushima



The Austronesian colonization of Tsushima refers to the migration of Austronesian peoples from Taiwan to Tsushima. This is theorized to have taken place between 3000 BCE to 1000 BCE, which places it in the Taoguan Period of standard Tsushiman chronology.

Theories


Austronesian peoples are theorized to have migrated from Taiwan to the East Asian Islands between 3000 BCE and 1000 BCE. Based on linguistic similarities between Tsushiman and the East Formosan or Kavalanic languages of Taiwan, the voyagers are presumed to have left from either the north or northeast coast of Taiwan (corresponding to the modern cities of Keelung and Yilan). Archeological findings in the Zhoushan Islands, Ryukyu, southern Kysuhu (near the city of Kushima), and Tsushima corroborate this. Migration routes line up with the Kuroshio and Tsushima Currents.

The lack of Austronesian archeological findings further north in Honshu is believed to be caused by extermination of the peoples by native Japonic peoples.