We investigate the role of rattling guest atoms on the lattice thermal-conductivity of a type-I clathrate Ba8Ga16Ge30 by first-principles lattice dynamics. Comparing phonon properties of filled and empty clathrates, we show that rattlers cause 10-fold reductions in the relaxation time of phonons by increasing the phonon-phonon scattering probability. Contrary to the resonant scattering scenario, the reduction in the relaxation time occurs in a wide frequency range, which is crucial for explaining unusually low thermal-conductivities of clathrates. We also find that the impact of rattlers on the group velocity of phonons is secondary because the flattening of phonon dispersion occurs only in a limited phase space in the Brillouin zone. Here, T is the absolute temperature, σ is the electrical conductivity, S is the Seebeck coefficient, and κ c(L) is the thermal conductivity by electrons (phonons), respectively. Since κ L of a clathrate is intrinsically low without introducing micro/nanostructures such as grain boundaries or nanoscale precipitates, semiconductor clathrates are one of prototype materials which follow the phonon glass/electron crystal (PGEC) concept proposed by Slack [3].The origin of low κ L of host-guest structures such as clathrates and skutterudites has commonly been attributed to the "rattlers", i.e. guest atoms loosely bound inside oversized cages [4][5][6][7]. However, its actual role is not fully understood. In the simple kinetic theory, the lattice thermal conductivity is given bywhere C is the lattice specific heat, v is the average group velocity, and τ is the average relaxation time of phonons, respectively. Historically, the reduction in κ L has been attributed to resonant scatterings by localized rattling modes [4], which reduce τ of heat-carrying acoustic modes in a limited energy region near avoided-crossing points. This mechanism was originally introduced to explain κ L observed in a solid solution of KCl and KNO 2 [8], and it was also applied to a clathrate hydrate assuming the guest as an isolated point defect [5]. However, although the resonant phonon scattering has repeatedly been employed to explain low κ L 's of host-guest structures [4-6], little attention has been paid to the validity of that mechanism itself. Recently, the validity of resonant scattering was questioned by experimental and theoretical studies in skutterudites [9,10]. Another important role of rattlers which has recently been recognized is its impact on the group velocity [11,12]. On the basis of inelastic neutron scattering (INS) of a type-I clathrate Ba 8 Ga 16 Ge 30 (BGG), Christensen et al. [11] claimed that a major effect of rattlers is to reduce v of acoustic phonons at the avoided-crossing points rather than to reduce τ . This mechanism clearly conflicts with the resonant scattering scenario, where τ is the main source of low κ L . It is still an open question that which of the group velocity v or the relaxation time τ is mainly affected by rattlers, which should be understood precisely for further redu...