Photo/Illutration The fragment of the back of a German cockroach unearthed from the Makimuku archaeological site (Provided by Shigehiko Shiyake)

NARA--Researchers excavating an archaeological site where an impressive palace is believed to have stood in the late third century found the partial remains of a cockroach that conceivably gave Himiko, a legendary queen of early Japan, a fright.

The find, at the Makimuku ruins in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, caused a stir because it constitutes the world’s oldest known example of a German cockroach (Blattella germanica) and raises the possibility the insect is native to Japan rather than being a relative newcomer.

The excavation work is being undertaken by a team from Nara Women’s University and the Osaka Museum of Natural History.

The site, which takes its name from a village nearby, dates to the late third century, which marks the start of the Kofun (burial mounds) Period that continued until the seventh century.

Makimuku is considered a viable candidate site for the mystery shrouded Yamatai state, which an ancient Chinese history text says was governed by Himiko.

The queen is thought to have died around the year 247. Her reaction to a cockroach scurrying in her palace would probably have been the same as a person today finding one in their home, the researchers said.

The cockroach fragment was unearthed from a pit found to contain ritual artifacts at the Makimuku site.

Researchers with Nara Women’s University, who are engaged in a joint study with the municipal Research Center for Makimukugaku, Sakurai City, discovered the insect shell while sorting plant seeds, animal bones and other finds.

Shigehiko Shiyake, a visiting researcher of entomology with the Osaka Museum of Natural History, identified the shell as a fragment of the back of a German cockroach based on its shape and pattern.

An adult German cockroach measures up to 1.5 centimeters. They mostly inhabit the interiors of buildings in Japan.

It has long been thought the German cockroach is native to northeastern Africa and arrived in Japan only toward the end of the Edo Period (1603-1867).

But a more recent theory posits that the species could be native to Asia because it is closely related to the Asian cockroach (Blattella asahinai), whose habitat ranges from Okinawa to Southeast Asia.

Shiyake re-examined past cases of insect remains found at archaeological sites in Japan and came across a cockroach unearthed from a soil layer dating from the late fifth century (late mid-Kofun Period) at the Ikegami-Sone site in Izumi, Osaka Prefecture. It was previously attributed to a different species when in fact it was a German cockroach.

“The German cockroach from the late third century is so far the oldest found in the world,” Shiyake said. “The species could be native to Japan.”

The research results were to be presented at an annual congress of the Japan Society for Scientific Studies on Cultural Properties in Tenri, Nara Prefecture, on Oct. 22.

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