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The Tabon Caves, dubbed as the ''Philippines' Cradle of Civilization'', are a group of caves located on Lipuun Point, north of
Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of th ...
municipality, in the south western part of the province of
Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...
on
Palawan Island Palawan is the largest island of the province of Palawan in the Philippines and fifth-largest by area and tenth-most populous island of the country, with a total population of 994,101 as of 2020 census. The north west coast of the island is alon ...
, in the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
. They are part of the Lipuun Point Reservation, which has been protected by the government of the Philippines as a museum reservation to protect the caves and immediate vicinity from
deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated d ...
and to preserve the cultural artifacts present there. The caves are named after the
Tabon scrubfowl The Philippine megapode (''Megapodius cumingii''), also known as the Philippine scrubfowl or the Tabon scrubfowl, is a species of bird in the family Megapodiidae. It is found in the Philippines, northeastern Borneo, and Sulawesi. Its natural ha ...
. It is bordered on the south by the town proper of Quezon,
Panitian Quezon, officially the Municipality of Quezon ( tgl, Bayan ng Quezon), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 65,283 people. It is home to the Tabon Caves where ...
on the west, and the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
on the north and east. Out of 215 known caves, 29 have been explored and seven of these are open to the public. The seven include Tabon, Diwata, Igang and Liyang Caves. One of the oldest human bones found in the Philippines, the
Tabon Man Tabon Man refers to remains discovered in the Tabon Caves in Lipuun Point in Quezon, Palawan in the Philippines. They were discovered by Robert B. Fox, an American anthropologist of the National Museum of the Philippines, on May 28, 1962. The ...
, was found here in 1962. Other excavated, unexamined remains are stored onsite. In 2006, the ''Tabon Cave Complex and all of Lipuun'' was added to the tentative list of the Philippines for future
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
nomination. The complex is managed by the
National Museum A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...
and was declared as a National Cultural Treasure by the same institution in February 2011.


Archaeological discoveries

The caves were researched by Dr. Robert B. Fox and a team from the
National Museum of the Philippines The National Museum of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Museo ng Pilipinas}) is an umbrella government organization that oversees a number of national museums in the Philippines including ethnographic, anthropological, archaeological, and visu ...
between 1962 and 1966. The greatest find of was the skull cap of the
Tabon Man Tabon Man refers to remains discovered in the Tabon Caves in Lipuun Point in Quezon, Palawan in the Philippines. They were discovered by Robert B. Fox, an American anthropologist of the National Museum of the Philippines, on May 28, 1962. The ...
. It is believed to be approximately 22,000-24,000 years old. The team found over 1,500 burial jars. One jar in particular, the
Manunggul Jar The Manunggul Jar is a secondary burial jar excavated from a Neolithic burial site in the Manunggul cave of the Tabon Caves at Lipuun Point in Palawan, Philippines. It dates from 890–710 B.C. and the two prominent figures at the top handle of i ...
, is considered to be a National Cultural Treasure. Other finds included earthenware, jade ornaments and jewelry, many stone tools, animal bones, and human fossils dating back to 47,000 years ago, the earliest human remains found in the Philippines. The archaeological finds indicate habitation from 50,000 to 700 years ago. The limestone formations in the reservation date back 25 million years to the Lower Middle Miocene Period. The Lipuun Point Reservation, covering a island connected to the Palawan mainland by a mangrove forest, was declared a Site Museum Reservation in April 1972 and was made a priority site for tourism development in 1991 for its natural and cultural heritage. In recent years, verification of facts in addition to further analysis of previously collected samples has allowed for a greater understanding of the site as a whole. Radioisotope dating techniques have been able to show a period of near continuous habitation from 30,000 to 9,000 years ago. Human remains as well as rock flakes, hammers, and other stone tools indicate the cave may have been used as a workshop. The bone fragments found in the caves have been suggested to have been from the late Pleistocene to early Holocene periods. Previous excavations of the site have also revealed evidence of a diet including pig and deer, which are extinct in the Philippines today. While little new data is available because of the cave's location and safety concerns, they are slowly being excavated and the old data is being reexamined. Approximately 25% of archaeological sites in the caves have been excavated.


Cave use

Earliest cave uses included inhabitation, and the factory like production of stone tools. According to a video by Dr. Fox, a jar burial period began 3000 years ago and lasted until 1500 years ago. This is evidence the area became dominated by people known as the
Sa Huỳnh culture The Sa Huỳnh culture was a culture in modern-day central and southern Vietnam that flourished between 1000 BC and 200 AD. Archaeological sites from the culture have been discovered from the Mekong Delta to Quang Binh province in central Vietna ...
. The Sa Huynh adorned their dead with agate, carnelian, and glass beads from India and Iran. Artifacts of this nature, including glass bracelets, were found in the cave and are displayed at the Palawan Cultural Museum in Puerto Princesa. A migration of Sa Huyhn people to
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
is accepted by most experts to have been the forebears of the
Cham people The Cham (Cham: ''Čaṃ'') or Champa people (Cham: , ''Urang Campa''; vi, Người Chăm or ; km, ជនជាតិចាម, ) are an Austronesian ethnic group. From the 2nd century to 1832 the Cham populated Champa, a contiguous territo ...
. These are a people still existing today that created an empire known as
Champa Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ; km, ចាម្ប៉ា; vi, Chiêm Thành or ) were a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is contemporary central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd cen ...
. History of the people in the area took on a new significance in modern times owing to the Spratly Islands dispute.


Igang Cave findings

Igang is one of the upper caves and one of the longest of the complex. It appears to have been the primary burial site and most of the burial jars were found here.


Tabon Cave wall findings

Tabon Cave lends its name to the complex as a whole. In this large cave with a big open chamber, researchers found artifacts indicating trade with China during the
Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
and the
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...
. These are now at the Philippine National Museum in Manila.


College of Tabonology

In July 2015,
Holy Trinity University Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines that is located in the regions of the Philippines, region o ...
in Puerto Princesa, Palawan was selected for the construction of a new college to studies of ancient Palawan man (Tabonology). Nearly all active research stopped after Dr. Robert B. Fox died.


Security measures

The National Museum of the Philippines carefully guards the cave complex. All visitors are watched to ensure they take nothing but pictures and do not damage the cave walls. Further, all burial jars and remains have been secured. One issue is that new research and exploration of the complex has largely ceased.


Gallery

Image:Tabon Cave 2014 01.JPG, Docking station and entrance to the complex Image:Tabon Cave 2014 02.JPG, One of the chambers of the Tabon Cave Complex Site Image:Tabon Cave 2014 03.JPG, Rehabilitation works on Tabon Cave Image:Tabon Cave 2014 04.JPG, View of the site in Lipuun Point, Quezon, Palawan Image:Goblet_from_Leta_Leta_Cave_in_Tabon_Caves_Complex.jpg, Goblet 3000 years old from Leta Leta Cave


References


External links


Tabon Cave Story
Video of caves.

Anthropology Section.
Arts of the Philippines
Article on the Manunggul Jar {{India-related topics in Philippines Caves of the Philippines Landforms of Palawan Prehistory of the Philippines Archaeology of the Philippines Archaeological sites in the Philippines Hinduism in the Philippines Tourist attractions in Palawan World Heritage Tentative List for the Philippines