TABUK, Kalinga – Encouraged by the recovery of more stone tools and animal remains in the Early Man Open Site in San Pedro, Rizal, Kalinga, local and international archeologists and paleontologist are stepping up efforts to find direct evidence of the existence of prehistoric man in the area.
Archeologist Mylene Lising, a member of the team, said that to find the sought after evidence, there is need to “continue the archaeological excavation and research in Rizal to find more fossils and stone tools which are evidence for the existence of early humans and animals and how they co-existed at this site in the deep past, and also, to continue the analyses on these specimens in the labs offsite.”
Lising said that the 2017 excavation has yielded more stone implements and partially exposed a fossilized remains of an still unidentified animal when it winded up its one-month undertaking last week.
Since 2013, the excavations have unearthed the fossilized bones of a stegodon, an elephant, pig, tortoise, a big lizard, deer and rhinoceros in the site, the team composed of archeologists and paleontologists from the University of the Philippines-Archeological Studies Program, the National Museum and the Musee de l’Homme in Paris, France, informed.
The first recorded find in the site, a rhinoceros lower jaw, took place in 1935.
Lising said that as a result of the finds of the team, the National Museum is resuming its Early Man Project in Rizal which was started in Cagayan in the 1980s adding that the effort would be led by National Museum Assistant Director Angel Bautista, who she described as one of the original archeological researchers in the provinces of Kalinga and Cagayan.
“He is a highly, if not, most credible authority on this area and we are extremely happy that he has expressed his intentions and interest to step up research efforts by the National Museum,” Lising said of Bautista.
On account of the stone tools, the archeological community commonly believe that prehistoric man had existed in Rizal.
National Museum Senior Museum Researcher Sheldon Clyde Jago-on who led the excavations in Rizal in 2008 and 2009 said that the “presence of stone tools in the area in great quantity indicates that early man was already present in the area, although we do not know yet how long ago neither do we know if they are Homo erectus.”
“The finds from the Kalinga excavation are important because, for one, so far they are the oldest in the country. While we do not yet have direct evidence of human presence–like human bones, we do have stone tools that point indirectly to the existence of humans possibly alongside the rhino. We do not yet have a date, but initial studies point to between 800,000-400,000 years ago,” Lising said.
The Callao Man whose foot bone was unearthed in the Callao Cave in nearby Penablanca, Cagayan in 2007 is believed to be 67,000 years old while the Tabon Man of Palawan is believed to be 50,000 years old.
Meantime, Rizal Mayor Marcelo dela Cruz informed that the results of the recent diggings have swung the support of concerned government agencies towards the efforts of the Rizal LGU to protect and develop the Early Man Open Site which is also dubbed as Elephant Hill due to the recovery of elephant fossilized bones including the tusk in 1971 and 2001.
He said that in contrast to the past when the agencies would just receive communications from the LGU without a word, the officials of these agencies now ask for updates and also extend cooperation and assistance.
Dela Cruz also informed that French Ambassador Thierry Mathou and National Museum Director Jeremy Barnes visited the excavation activity sometime in July with the French official committing his government’s continued support for the research.
The ongoing archeological undertaking in Rizal is being funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France and the National Geographic.
Dela Cruz has donated a five-hectare area in barangay Rumualdez, Rizal along the Tuguegarao City to Roxas, Isabela road for the proposed Rizal Archeological Reserach Center.
The mayor said that the vision of the LGU is that in 20 years, Rizal will become another tourist destination in the Cordillera on the strength of its archeological wealth.**By Estanislao Albano, Jr.
