Tabon Man

Cristine C.
De Mesa
BSPA 1D
Tabon Man refers to remains discovered in the Tabon Caves in Lipuun Point
in Quezon, Palawan in the Philippines. These were discovered by Robert B. Fox, an
American anthropologist of the National Museum of the Philippines, on May 28, 1962.
These remains, the fossilized fragments of a skull and jawbone of three individuals, were
believed to be the earliest human remains known in the Philippines which date back to
16,500 years ago, until a metatarsal from the Callao Man discovered in 2007 was dated in
2010 by uranium-series dating as being 67,000 years old. The Tabon fragments are
collectively called "Tabon Man" after the Tabon Cave, the place where they were found on
the west coast of Palawan. Tabon Cave appears to be a kind of Stone Age factory, with both
finished stone flake tools and waste core flakes having been found at four separate levels in
the main chamber. Charcoal left from three assemblages of cooking fires there has
been Carbon-14-dated to roughly 7000, 20,000, and 22,000 BCE.
The right mandible of a Homo sapiens, which dates to 29,000 BC, was discovered together
with a skullcap. The Tabon Skull Cap is considered the earliest skull cap of modern man
found in the Philippines, and is thought to have belonged to a young female. The Tabon
Mandible is the earliest evidence of human remains showing archaic characteristics of
mandible and teeth. The Tabon Tibia Fragment, a bone from the lower leg, was found
during the re-excavation of the Tabon Cave by the National Museum of the Philippines. The
bone was sent to the National Museum of Natural History in France to be studied.
Accelerated carbon dating technique revealed a dating of 47,000 ± 11–10,000 years ago,
making it the oldest human fossil recovered in the complex.
Tabon Cave is named after the "Tabon bird" (Tabon scrubfowl, Megapodius cumingii),
which deposited thick hard layers of guano during periods when the cave was uninhabited
so that succeeding groups of tool-makers settled on a cement-like floor of bird dung. About
half of the 3,000 recovered specimens examined were discarded cores of a material which
had to be transported from some distance. This indicates that the inhabitants were actually
engaged in tool manufacture. The Tabon Man fossils are considered to have come from a
third group of inhabitants, who worked the cave between 22,000 and 20,000 BCE. An
earlier cave level lies so far below the level containing cooking fire assemblages that it must
represent Upper Pleistocene dates like 45,000 or 50,000 years ago. Anthropologist Robert
Fox, who directed the excavations, deduced that the Tabon Cave was a habitation of man
for a period of 40,000 years, from 50,000 to 9,000 years ago.
Physical anthropologists who have examined the Tabon Man skullcap are agreed that it
belonged to modern man, Homo sapiens, as distinguished from the mid-Pleistocene Homo
erectus species. This indicates that Tabon Man was pre-Mongoloid(Mongoloid being the
term anthropologists apply to the racial stock which entered Southeast Asia during
the Holocene and absorbed earlier peoples to produce the modern Malay, Indonesian,
Filipino, and "Pacific" peoples). Two experts have given the opinion that the mandible is
"Australian" in physical type, and that the skullcap measurements are the closest to Ainu
people or Tasmanians. Nothing can be concluded about Tabon Man's physical appearance
from the recovered skull fragments except that he was not a Negrito.
Location
The Tabon Cave Complex is a series of caves situated in a limestone promontory at Lipuun
Point in Southwestern Palawan It spans 138 hectares and it used to be an island but now, a
mangrove forest connected it to mainland Palawan. There are roughly 218 caves, 38 of
which are rich with archaeological and anthropological finds. Lipuun Point is made up of 25
million year old limestone and is composed of rocky large domes, deep cliffs, and steep
hills. In this area, cave occupation of a sporadic or temporary nature by modern humans
seems to be indicated into the early Holocene. In the earlier Holocene, several sites show
more intensive or frequent occupation; local people appear to have been strongly focused
on land-based, riverine, and estuarine resources; and in many cases the sea is known to
have been many kilometers away from the cave sites. The Presidential Proclamation No.
996, which was established on April 11, 1972, protected the Tabon Caves Complex and
Lipuun point from deforestation and destruction. It was declared as a Site Museum
Reservation and is preserved for the present and future generations.
The word lipuun literally means to "turn" and this reservation houses indigenous plant and
animal species.
Paleoenvironment
Although Tabon Cave is just a few minutes' walk from the sea, the lack of marine shells
from early cultural deposits in this cave supports the idea that there was a substantial land
shelf around the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, when estimates place sea levels at 130
metres (430 ft.) below present or possibly lower. The appearance of marine shells in
middens in other caves on Lipuun Point from c. 7000 BP, and especially in later periods,
suggests increasing focus on marine resources in the area in general; the abandonment of
Tabon Cave just prior to this time may be related to sea level rise. The potential
relationship between Tabon Cave travertine and pre-Late Glacial Maximum wetter climates
sees some support from recent research on vegetation sequences in north Palawan. Tabon
Cave would have been far inland during the late Pleistocene, and Reynolds (1993) suggests
that such caves would have been marginal culturally during phases of low sea level, when
currently submerged areas would have been the focus for human settlement. Over time,
there is increasing evidence for occupation of caves associated with rising sea levels, and at
Lipuun Point from c. 7000 BP, for a more maritime focus; Tabon Cave was, however,
abandoned before this date.
Tabonian culture
Stone tools, fossils, and earthenware have been found in different caves from the Tabon
Caves Complex. In the Liyang Cave, large jars filled with human remains were discovered.
The cave was believed to be a burial site of early humans. In the Tabon Cave, chert flakes
and chopping tools, evidence of early humans being food gatherers and hunters, were
found. Chert was readily available from the riverbanks near the caves. Early humans lived
and knapped flake tools inside the Tabon Cave.
Tabon Man in Palawan

Tabon Man is thought as the earliest human in the Philippines before the discovery of
Callao Man in Callao Cave in Cagayan in year 2007. Tabon Man skullcap and three jawbones
from three individuals was discovered by Robert B. Fox on May 28, 1962 , an
anthropologist of National Museum of the Philippines in Tabon Cave, Lipuun Point,
Municipality of Quezon, Palawan. Tabon man is a species of homo sapiens or the modern
man. The skullcap was dated back to 14,500 B.C., the mandible or jawbones as dated back
29,000 B.C. , and the tibia (bone of the lower leg) was dated back 45,000 B.C. Also
found in Tabon Cave are finished stone flake tools, waste core flakes and charcoal used by
Tabon man for cooking. Charcoals was dated back 7,000 to 22,000 B.C. It is thought that the
cave was a habitation of man for a period of 50,000 to 9,000 years ago based on all relics
and artifacts found.

Tabon Man

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Tabon Man

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Tabon Man

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cristine C.

Tabon Man in Palawan

You might also like