Posted on Tuesday, 3rd November 2009 by All Philippines
Tabon Man Skull Cap
The year was 1962. An American anthropologist working for the Philippine National Museum, Dr. Robert B. Fox and the museum’s anthropological division, discovered fossils of human remains consisting of skulls, jawbones, and teeth fragments from three individuals in the complex caves of Tabon in the southwestern part of the Palawan Island.
The Tabon caves, where the human fossil remains were found was named after the Tabon Scrubfowl (Philippine Megapode) – a species of bird which deposited bird droppings inside the cavern, long before any humans inhabited the cave areas.
The Tabon discovery was a milestone in Philippine archeological history proving that early Homo sapiens inhabited Palawan Island around 20,000 to 24,000 years ago. The fossil finds, now known as the Tabon Man, are now believed to be the earliest known human settlers in the Philippines – the cradle of Philippine civilization.
Based on the discovery of Dr. Robert Fox and the subsequent study on the Tabon Man case, the anthropologist noted that these ancient Tabon cave dwellers used tools and weaponries belonging to the late Stone Age era. Metal was abundant in the area but they did not incorporate it in their needs. They have developed a spoken language for communication and were also believed to be artistic and culturally adapted to their surroundings.
Tags: ancient Philippines, Dr. Robert B. Fox, explore Philippine caves, Palawan Island, Philippine anthropology, Philippine archeology, Philippine birds, Philippine History, Philippine Megapode, Philippine National Museum, Philippine spelunkers, Philippines stone age, Tabon cave, Tabon Man, Tabon Scrubfowl
Posted in Philippine Facts | Comments (6)
September 14th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
Philippine’s history is such an excitibg topic…
October 12th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
I had asked the caretaker of Tabon cave last May 2010 about the number of Tabon Man skull discovered. He told me only one of it and it is located only in the municipality of Quezon.Yes I saw it personally in the Museum of Quezon during my sojourn there, but was it really an original scalp? The guard on duty of the said museum told me that the Manunggul Jar was just a replica one. So it with the displayed scalp in the said museum? I am a Hekasi teacher in the public School of Canlaon City, Negros Oriental.
October 12th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
Most public school writers and publishers were commited a very big mistakes in their work. Especially on the Hekasi book published. The Tabon Cave as encircled and pointed by the said people was a a great misrepresentation of the truth. They pointed the wrong cave as the Tabon Cave but in fact its not, its the Diwata Cave. The real Tabon Cave is located below the said cave with an estimated 40 meters space.These publishers and writers must locate the said place in the rigt order
November 29th, 2010 at 12:28 am
I have a keen interest on History especially our own. I do hope there are factual basis and concrete foundation in our origin.We have fragment of Tabon man skull.
June 8th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
Well, I am still a grade four student in the Philippines but what I learned about it is that: “The Tabon cave is located near a seashore but the archeologists did not find any sea food. So, it led them to conclude that the place was far from a shore when the Tabon man (Homo Sapiens) used to
lived there.”
January 6th, 2012 at 9:50 am
i got caught with the posted comment of r. jerusalem..
is that true that the tabon man was not from tabon cave?
now i’m not so sure with the information that i will share with my classmates in my report.