Lecture 3: The First Human Inhabitants of the Philippines

In 2018, a team of archeologists discovered a set of stone tools buried next to a rhinoceros carcass. Their findings show that the tools were deliberately used to butcher the rhino. This shows that humans have been in our territory for hundreds of thousands of years.

Tabon Man

• Discovered in the Tabon Caves, Lipuun Point, Quezon, Palawan in 1965 by Robert Fox

• 47,000 years old

• Stone tools were also discovered at the site (evidence of food gethering)

• Tabon Man was Homo sapiens

Callao Man

• The metatarsal foot bone was discovered in 2007 near Peñablanca, Cagayan

• Dates back 67,000 years

• Surrounded by animal bones with cut marks

• Features indicate species other than Homo sapiens (such as Homo floresiensis)

• More fossils were found in the Callao Cave in 2019

Callao Man / Homo luzonensis

• The discovery of seven teeth and six small bones from three individuals represents a new branch in the ancestry of humans

• 50,000 to 67,000 years old

• Had similar features to Homo floresiensis and Australopithecus

  

“Out of Taiwan” Theory

• According to this theory, our ancestors first came from Taiwan through advanced seafaring and navigating, they managed to reach Luzon around 5000 years ago

• From Luzon, the Austronesians started migrating to the rest of the Philippines as well as nearby countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania

• Studies have shown that countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania share many similar cultural practices and even have similar languages

Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs Site