TABON CAVE


ROBERT B. FOX
 About the author
ROBERT BRADFORD FOX (1918-1985)

 ANTHROPOLOGIST AND LEADING

HISTORIAN ON THE PRE-HISPANIC
PHILIPPINES

 ACTIVELY SERVED THE NATIONAL

MUSEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES IN
1948-1975

 SERVING AS CONSULTANT TO THE

PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT ON
ANTHROPOLOGICAL MATTERS AND AS
DEAN OF BRENT SCHOOL IN BAGUIO
CITY.
 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 ROBERT BRADFORD FOX WAS BORN ON MAY 11, 1918
IN GALVESTON TEXAS. RECEIVED HIS AB (ANTHROPOLOGY)
FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ON 1941.
HE DIED AT THE AGE OF 67 ON 1985 SUBSEQUENTLY STROKE
CONFINED TO HOME UNTIL HIS FINAL DAYS IN BAGUIO

 HEAD OF THE ANTHROPOLOGY DIVISION OF THE NATIONAL

MUSEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES

 TAUGHT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES AND

SERVED AS PRESIDENTIAL ASSISTANT FOR NATIONAL
MINORITIES
 TABON BIRD
THE PHILIPPINE MEGAPODE (MEGAPODIUS CUMINGII), ALSO KNOWN AS
THE PHILIPPINE SCRUBFOWL OR THE TABON SCRUBFOWL THAT DIG ITS
NEST INTO THE GROUND. THEY ARE ALSO WHERE THE CAVE IS NAMED
AFTER.
 TABON CAVE

 Located in Lipuun Point,

Panitian, Quezon, Palawan in
the Philippines. Dubbed as the
country's "cradle of
civilization", it is a site of
archaeological importance due
to the number of jar burials
and prehistoric human remains
found starting from the 1960

 Large main cave where only

Pleistocene human fossils
in the Philippines were
found.

 Scattered fossils bones of

at least 3 individuals
were excavated
TABON MAN & FOSSIL HUMAN BONES


ARTIFACTS RECOVERED RANGING 50,000 YEARS AGO TO THE
14TH CENTURY.TABON MAN ONE OF THE OLDEST KNOWN HUMAN
SKELETAL

Tabon Man may be dated from

22,000 – 24,000 years ago.
 THE BEGGING OF PHILIPPINE
ARCHAEOLOGY

 THE DISCOVERY OF TABON

CAVE IN PALAWAN

 SITE OF AN IMPORTANT
PHILIPPINE ARCHAEOLOGICAL
DISCOVERY: THE TABON MAN
HE LED A 6-YEAR
ARCHAELOGICAL RESEARCH
IN PALAWAN; CAVES &
ROCKSHELTERS OF
LIPUUN POINT.
 BURIAL JAR IN TABON CAVE
AT LEAST 200 JARS, JAR COVERS AND SMALL VESSELS SCATTERED ON
THE CAVE WAS RECOVERED
 MANUNGGUL
CAVE
DISCOVERED BY MR.VICTOR
DECALAN, MR. HANS KASTEN AND
VOLUNTEER WORKERS FROM US
PEACE CORPS IN 1964

MANUNGGUL CAVE IS ONE OF THE

TABON CAVES IN LIPUUN POINT.
THE TABON CAVES ARE KNOWN TO
BE A SITE OF JAR BURIALS WITH
ARTIFACTS DATING IN A RANGE
FROM 2300 TO 50 B.C

MANUNGGUL JAR
A KIND OF BURIAL JARWHICH IS
UNRIVALED IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
AND CONSIDERED AS THE WORK OF
A MASTER POTTER, SIGNIFIES THE
BELIEF OF EARLY FILIPINOS IN
LIFE AFTER DEATH.
THE BOATMAN IS SEATED BEHIND A FIGURE WHOSE HANDS ARE CROSSED
ON THE CHEST. THE POSITION OF THE HANDS IS A TRADITIONAL
FILIPINO PRACTICE OBSERVED WHEN ARRANGING THE CORPSE.
 MANUNGGUL CAVE

COMPOSED OF 4 CHAMBERS WITH 3 OPENINGS BUT ONLY 2 WERE
USED FOR JAR BURIAL.HAS A LARGE ROUND MOUTH.TUNNEL-LIKE
HAVING A SEND OPENING ON THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF THE
CLIFF.

CHAMBER ONE

HAS THREE ANIMAL OR BIRD HEADS SURROUNDING AN OPENING A

UNIQUE TRIPOD CONSTRUCTION
OTHER ARTIFACTS

WOODEN COFFIN LA HUYNB POTTERY
Fragments of the distinct bracelets and other
accessories:

 4 OF JADE
 3 OF AGATE
 TWO MADE FOM LARGE LIMPET SHELLS.
 1 PERFECT JASPER EAR PENDANT
 SUPER THIN AND TRANSLUCENT, ELLIPSOID-
SHAPED PENDANT OF A RED CHALCEDONY.
 CHAMBER B

A HIGHLY DECORATED FUNERARY
SAND TEMPERING
SURFACE COLORS
FORM OF BURIAL JARS
TRUNCONIAL JAR COVER
 TYPES OF POTTERY

 TABON PLAIN
 TABON POLISH
 TABON IMPRESSED
 TYPES OF SHELLS

 LARGE RING – LIKE BEADS
 TINY DISK BEADS
 TYPICAL SMALL COVERING BEADS•
 SHELL SPOONS
 IN 1948 – NUMBER OF SPOONS COLLECTED