Huluga Caves is a prehistoric site in the

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. It is located in the south end of

Cagayan de Oro Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region, covering ...

, about eight kilometers away. Composed of the two main caverns, it is situated on the eastern side of Cagayan de Oro River, along the brow of a vertical limestone cliff. The skeletal fragment from these caves were found belong to a child and a woman who inhabited in 377 A.D. This was based on the acid racemization done by

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Heritage

Huluga is more than 80-feet high. It has an area of 50 meters across it northern and southern parts and measures 40 meters from the western edge of the precipice to the eastern slope. Cogon grass covers much of the area with big balete trees on both the northern and southern flanks. According to the Heritage Conservation Advocates, is "the home of the original native people of

". It is considered by many people, to be a

sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

site which lacks protection and guidance by the government. Inside, they have found

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tools such as glass beads, spoons, pendants, bracelets, stone tools, axe tip and pieces of iron. In 1977, Burton sent bone samples taken from the caves for acid racemization to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California in San Diego, California, and the sample was traced to 1600 BP or 377 A.D. Experts at the National Museum earlier said they were convinced that these caves were used by early Cagayanons from the late

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to the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

. At present, archeological artifacts can still be retrieved at the damaged portion of the open site. Antonio Montalvan II, a former commissioner at the City Hall's Historical Commission, said no pits were ever dug by scientists at the open site but only surface scans. "It is therefore possible that the site will still yield unearthed artifacts and evidences of prehistoric Cagayan culture. This was in fact one of the recommendations of the National Museum team," he said. Aside from its continuing archeological yields, the Huluga Site is believed to have been the site of

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...

Cagayan de Oro known in written historical documents as " Himologan". When the Spanish soldiers and

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friars arrived in Cagayan in the year 1622, there was no town in the area that existed. They founded only a large cave fortress called Himologan. It was only in 1626 that Himologan's chief, Datu Salangsang and his people were persuaded by Fray Agustin de San Pedro to move the town site to the present-day Gaston Park and the San Agustin Cathedral.

Heritage

See also