RESEARCHERS: World’s Oldest Fishhooks Found In Japan, Date Back 23,000 Years Ago

By  //  September 20, 2016

fish-hooks-580-2
Fishhooks found on a southern Japanese island date back some 23,000 years, making them among the world’s oldest fishing implements, researchers said Monday. (Image by Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum)

Fishhooks found on a southern Japanese island date back some 23,000 years, making them among the world’s oldest fishing implements, researchers said Monday.

The hooks were discovered in Sakitari Cave on the southern end of Okinawa island several years ago, said Masaki Fujita, chief researcher for the study and a curator at Okinawa Prefectural Museum and Art Museum.

“And we have finally concluded that the geological layer in which the fishhooks were found was formed 23,000 years ago,” Fujita told AFP.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE OF THIS STORY