via Manila Bulletin, 09 October 2022: An archaeology-centric reflection on the recent discoveries from Pilanduk Cave in Palawan island.
Recently, findings from Pilanduk Cave in Southern Palawan have been making the rounds in the news because dates being released show human habitation in the cave dating back to the Ice Age or Pleistocene Epoch. The Ice Age started 2.4 million years ago and ended 11,500 years ago. During this time, the world experienced a number of glacial and interglacial events that saw modern human behavior adapt to the rapidly changing environment. Archaeological materials recovered from Pilanduk Cave were dated to be 20,000 to 25,000 years old, which tells us that, during the last great Ice Age or the Last Glacial Maxima (LGM) (30,000-19,000 years ago), a group of people inhabited Pilanduk Cave.
During LGM, sea levels dropped over 120 meters below the current sea level, creating what we now call land bridges. Southern Philippines was then connected to Mainland Southeast Asia via Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. To the north, the sea was significantly lower between the Philippines and Taiwan (which by this time was connected to what is now called China). During the time of habitation, Pilanduk Cave was 40 kilometers from the coastline. Today, it is only one kilometer from the shore. That is how much the sea receded during LGM. And this is why a lot of LGM sites in the Philippines are now underwater, except for a few, like Pilanduk Cave.
Source: Pre-historic Filipinos—the hunter and the hunted – Manila Bulletin
