Tabon Human Fossils
let’s talk about the human fossils unearthed in the renowned archaeological site of Tabon Cave!
Located on the southwest coast of Palawan Island, the Tabon Cave is one of the most studied archaeological sites in the Philippines. Pioneer excavations by Dr. Robert Fox of the National Museum of the Philippines (NMP) in 1962 led to the first hominin fossil discovery in the country. A skull cap and two mandible fragments were found during the first excavations, followed by more remains recovered until 2002. Fox attributed the skull cap’s estimated age between 24,000 to 22,000 years Before Present (BP) based on radiocarbon dating of charcoal associated to a lithic assemblage. A recent Uranium-Thorium dating placed the Tabon skull cap at 16,500 BP and identified it as a female based on morphology and CT scans. The right mandible fragment dates to 31,000 BP, and a newly discovered tibia fragment dates to 47,000 BP.
The Tabon human remains exhibit a weakly-built anatomically modern Homo sapiens. Subsequent excavations and in-depth analyses of other fossil remains from Tabon Cave have revealed 483 more human remains, now deposited and conserved at the NMP’s national archaeological collection. New additions to the collection include a few fully preserved teeth and hand and foot bone fragments. Interestingly, four upper molars found in Tabon Cave closely fall within the variability of the Philippine Negritos. The Tabon Cave fossils are crucial in understanding human evolution in Southeast Asia, providing insights about migration, culture, and early human populations. The Tabon Skull Cap, Tabon Mandible, and Tabon Tibia were declared National Cultural Treasures for their outstanding scientific value in Philippine and Southeast Asian Archaeology.