Our Volcanic Past

http://searg.rhul.ac.uk/current_research/philippines/index.html
Tektites sa Pilipinas

Tectos - molten
Estimate Age:
750000-150000
taon ang nakakaraan
 Tektites sa Pilipinas

Origin: 1926 ni Prof H.O. Beyer sa

Extraterrestrial Novaliches
Rizalite
Characteristics: Matatagpuan Rizal, Bulacan,
Unique Chemical QC, Negros, Pangasinan,
Composition Cagayan Valley
Glassy
Of different shapes
Tektites sa
Pilipinas
Prepared by Emil Robles
Island Evolution
Four fundamental concepts of Biogeography:
1. Dispersal:
Movement of organism(s) from a point of origin to a new location.

2. Colonization:
Organism reaches new location, survives, reproduces, and establishes new
population.

3. Extinction:
Species is eliminated from a particular area

4. Evolution:
Surviving population in a particular area undergoes change(s) in frequency
of gene alleles
Islands
Isolated
Sharp boundaries
Catastrophic disturbance
Results to selective pressure
 Why disperse?

Reduce
intraspecific
competition
Find more
suitable habitats
 How did they arrive in the islands?

Sweepstakes Dispersal

Accidental dispersal and movement of fauna from

one place to another
Via island hopping, natural rafts

Land Connection, Corridors

Active movement of an organism from one
location to another by its own capacity
Eg bird migration
How did they arrive in the islands?
Colonization of Islands

As the number of species

on an island increases, the
rate of colonization will
decline because available
ecological niches become
fewer

Source: MacArthur and Wilson.

The Theory of Island Biogeography
Species Extinctions

As the number of species

on an island increases, the
rate of extinction will
increase because species
compete for resources

Source: MacArthur and Wilson.

The Theory of Island Biogeography
Giant Proboscidean

800.000 years ago

Small Proboscidean
 Fosters rule Island endemism

CAUSES CONSEQUENCES

Absence of predation Enhanced energy intake efficiency

Absence of interspecific competition Decreased energy expenditure
Food limitation Reduction in expensive locomotor behaviour
Physiological efficiency (Bergmanns rule) Increased lifespan
Reduction in brain size and sense organs

Dwarf / Giant
 Island Evolution in Action
Madagascar

New Zealand

Indonesia
 Island Evolution in Action

Northern Luzon Giant Cloud

Rat (Phloeomys pallidus)

Northern and Central part of Luzon

Palaeolithic sa Pilipinas
 What is a Tool?
Chimps fishing for termites

Crows fashion hooks from leaves

and fish for bugs
Vultures use stones to open eggs

Bonobos use rocks and pieces of wood

to hammer open nuts (Kanzi)
 Stone tools
Stone tool or lithics comes from the Greek word lithikos
which means stone .

Oldest form of technology that can be readily observed

in the archaeological record
How to create stone tools?

Flintknapping

Stone tool manufacture

as a reductive process
How to create stone tools?
Things to
remember
Core

Flake

Debitage

Retouch
Palaeolithic
Sites sa
Pilipinas
Mas nakabatay sa
ebidensyang kultural,
hindi sa ebidensyang
biolohikal
 Fossil Sites in
the Philippines

After Bautista 1991

Cagayan Valley
Cagayan Valley Kalinga Apayao Area
Cagayan Valley Sites
National Museum pointed 54 sites in
1970s yielding tools and fossils.
Found in eroding slopes or on top of hills
History of Research
1935 A Rhinoceros lower jaw is discovered by two high school teachers
H.O. Beyer investigated the area but was told that the fossils were lost

1953 G.H. Von Koenigswald with Beyer surveyed Luzon including

Cagayan Valley and Anda Island in Pangasinan

1970s Systematic and widescale excavations of the National

Museum
1980s Geological survey of Mathisen and Vondra; found the fossil
layer they called the Awidon Mesa Formation

2000s Excavation of different teams: NM, ASP

2013-present research
2013 Archaeological survey w T.Ingicco, N. Amano, A. de Castro and J.de Vos
2013-present research
2014 Archaeological Excavation with T. Ingicco, K. Manalo (UP-ASP), J. de Vos
(Naturalis, G.v.der Bergh (Wollongong), George Lyras (UoA) and C. Jago-on
(NM)
Surface Finds
Surface Finds
2014 mapping
Heritage Work
Heritage Work
Heritage Work
 Callao Cave

Mijares et al.2010
Callao Cave
 Callao Cave
1742 North latitude and 12149 East
longitude

largest and longest cave within the Callao

Limestone formation, 7 chambers

Excavation Seasons
1979 1980 Maharlika Cuevas
2003, 2007 Armand Mijares
2009 Armand Mijares
Callao Cave Stratigraphy

Neolithic: black & red-slipped

pottery, shell and glass beads,
lingling-o etc

Culturally sterile layers

Chert flakes, burnt animal

remains, possible hearth

Very few material remains,

one flake, one chert core,
few deer bones
Animal bones and teeth, no
stone tool, Callao MT3
 Callao Cave Stone Tools

Below Neolithic Layer:

New 14C-dates from

Callao Cave:

Simple flake assemblages

Andesite, chert.
Expedient Technology

Callao Cave, Palaeolithic (Mijares 2007)

Lowest Layer at 67 ka
Discovery of animal
remains
No stone tools
3rd Metatarsal, genus
Homo
Comparison of the
Callao MT3 to other
primates
Arubo Site
 Late Lower Pleistocene:
Arubo (Luzon, Philippines)
 Late Lower Pleistocene:
Arubo (Luzon, Philippines)

Flint !
Local source
Fair quality
Accessible
 Late Lower Pleistocene:
Arubo (Luzon, Philippines)

Silex!
Local source
Fair quality
Accessible
 Late Lower Pleistocene:
Arubo (Luzon, Philippines)
 Mindoro Sites

Pawlik et. a. 2012

 Archaeological Research in Mindoro

Peopling of the Archipelago in the

Pleistocene: Surveys and excavations in Mindoro between
Mindoro Occidental since 2010 Palawan/Sundaland and
Luzon: Stepping stone to the
Callao Cave, 67ky BP
isolated islands of the main
Mindoro Island Philippine archipelago.
Mindoro remains an
Tabon Cave, archaeological mystery in
47ky BP respect to early human
colonisation.
 Archaeological Research in Mindoro
Peopling of the Archipelago in the
Pleistocene: Surveys and excavations in
Mindoro Occidental since 2010
 Archaeological Research in Mindoro

Bubog 2
Bubog 1
 Archaeological Research in Mindoro
Excavations focus on rockshelters at Bubog, Ilin Island, Mindoro Occidental.

Bubog 1 Bubog 2
In terms of stratigraphy, this is the most amazing
shell midden site I have ever seen (Philip Piper)
Hero Videos
 Stratigraphy and Dating

Stratigraphic profile of the site (Pawlik et al., 2014)

Layer Sample material 14C Age (BP) CalibratedBP/AD

4 Charcoal 3770 30 4250-4081 cal. BP

(89%)
5 Conus sp. 5306 38 5891-5525 cal. BP
(95.4%)
8 Tridacna shell adze 6875 35 7550-7305 cal. BP
(95.4%)
9 Canarium nut 9584 29 11100-10760 cal. Table showing the
BP (95.4%) different 14C dates
 Archaeological Research in Mindoro

Mostly pre-ceramic deposits at Bubog, very few

potsherds appear only near the surface. 14C-dating of
the shell midden upper layer: 5,891 - 5,525 cal BP.
Environmental changes visible in the stratigraphy:
Shift from deeper dwelling marine sea shells (e.g.
Nautilus) in the upper layers to dominantly mangrove
dwellers (e.g. Batissa sp. clams) in the lower layers of
the shell midden
Indication for sea level regression and a greater
distance to the coast (at present just 15 min walk)
Potential for older, pleistocene cultural layers underneath
the shell midden. 2m of sediment deposits have been
excavated in 2013. Base of the shell midden: 14C:
11,100 - 10,760 cal BP!
Terrestrial fauna (endemic pig, deer, rats, lizards)
underneath the shell midden!
A Polished Shell Adze from Bubog 1
 A Polished Shell Adze from Bubog 1

Found in Layer 8: Direct 14C date obtained: 7,792 7,623 cal BP

Bracketed by two radiocarbon dates from:
Layer 5 (near top): 5,891-5,525 cal BP and Layer 9 (lowest): 11,100 - 10,760 cal BP
Earliest shell adze in the Philippines and one of the oldest in ISEA
Commonly attributed to early farmers, this adze was made by hunter/gatherers
over 3000 years before agriculture is practised in the Philippines
Important wood working tool, e.g. for the building of vessels and settlements
 Archaeological
Research in Mindoro

Shell remains
associated with a
dedicated lithic
assemblage
Mostly round basalt
pebbles and basalt
flakes collected from the
beaches
Ethnographic Perspective
Meet the oldest Ilin islander!

The first prehistoric human burial

uncovered in Mindoro Island

After the skull cap was found, en bloc

retrieval of the skeletal remains

Excavation continues at ASPs Human

Osteology Laboratory

Flexed sleeping position

No grave goods associated, no pottery. A

pre-Neolithic burial, >5,000 years BP?
More Sites in Mindoro
Palawan Sites
Tabon Cave

Lipuun Point

215 caves, 38 are

archaeological

1962-1966 Robert Fox

Funded by NatGeo, Asia
Foundation
Fox Excavation
Dates and Stratigraphy
Tabon Cave

Detroit et al 2004
Tabon Cave
Occipital
fragment

Post-cranial
bones
Tabon Cave

Tabonian Culture
Lithic workspace
Complete chaine
operatoire present

Jasper-Chert
dominant raw
material

Fox 1970
Ille Cave
Ille Cave

ILLE CAVE

Tabon Cave

wallacea.info/biogeography

Google Earth
 El Nido, Palawan Landscape
Ille Cave & Campsite

Outside the Cave

East Mouth West Mouth

Ille Cave

Perspective Inside the Cave

Ille Cave
ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
LITHIC MATERIALS IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD

Less formal tool types

Dizon and Pawlik 2009

Dizon and Pawlik 2009

Basaltic flake
(photo D. Dasallas)

Common Raw Materials

Chert , Obsidian, Limestone
 REPRESENTED TAXA IN THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD
Other Species
Bos sp
Sus sp
Muridae
Mega/microchiptera
Bataguridae
Chelonii
Varanus sp
Philippine Brown Deer Snake
Rusa marianna/ Cervus mariannus Crocodilus
pin.primate.wisc.edu Aves
Axis calamianensis small deer, extinct?
Long-Tailed Macaque Macaca fascicularis Crab

http://wikimedia.org/
www.live-travel-blog.com

Philippine Porcupine Hystrix Pumila Palawan civet cat Paradoxus palawanensis

Philippine Flying Tree Squirrel
Asian palm civet Paradoxus hermaphroditus
Sundasciurus steerii
 CUT MARKS
ON HUMAN
REMAINS

Bone Modifications in an Early

Holocene Cremation Burial from
Palawan, Philippines (Lara et. al
2013, Int J. Osteoarch)
Context 758
CONTEXT 758

653 bone fragments

43% of a complete
individual (dry bone)
Single individual
Young-middle female
adult, mid stature.

RESEARCH HISTORY
Directly dated around 9425-9006 cal BP (OxA-16020; 15982)
Among one of the five human cremations found in the sequence
All the inhumations show same bone modifications
No charcoal on the area burning took place elsewhere
CONTEXT 758 cranium

Cut marks on frontal squama scalping or skinning

General presence of cut marks as part of defleshing the skull
Scrape marks on temporal bone removal of ear
CONTEXT 758 postcrania
Presence of cut marks on articular
surfaces
Scrape marks on green bone =
defleshing occured prior to
fragmentation
Cut marks on phalanges removal of
soft tissues
Cut marks on the internal and
external Surface of the ribs
evisceration
Deflesh > disarticulate > burn
Calcining of bone was complete on
bones with thin cortices
Burned in fresh state
Neolithic
 Before the Neolithic
Early humans were hunters of wild game
or
Collected wild fruits, berries, nuts, tubers
 Why the change?
Farming was easier and less energy
consuming
Farming is more reliable
Farming provided more food for a greater
number of people
 What triggered the change?
End of Last Ice Age around 11 Ka

Warm, wet, more stable climactic conditions

Permitted flourish of wild plants
Became source of food for humans
 Also remember

At the same time, this climate change, along with human

hunting, pushed various species of large mammals, on which
Paleolithic people relied, into extinction, adding to the need
for new food sources.
 Also remember

At this time humans have already developed

sophisticated tools and technologies which made
harvest of wild plants and animals easy.
Addition:
New Tools in
the Neolithic
Pottery

Sickles and other harvesting too

Grinding Stones
 What happened?
The need to increase food supplies to feed the growing
populations of humans also contributed to the emergence of
Agriculture
Required the people to become sedentary
Hence, the beginning of the Neolithic
 The Neolithic
Neolithic Age aka New
Stone Age
Cultural period and not
chronological marker
Multiple and independent
events
Conscious production of
food by humans
Domestication of plants and
animals
Ebolusyong Kultural
Teknolohiya sa Pilipinas
Panahong Neolitiko
Katergorya ng Neolitiko ng SEA
1. Pinakinis na Bato
2. Pagpapalayok
3. Pagtatanim
4. Pagdating ng mga Austronesyano

Kinakailangan ding walang presensya ng metal

Kaso ng Pilipinas, ebidensya rin ang presensya ng mga

shell midden