Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

7-2025

Abstract

As an archipelago straddling two distinct biogeographic zones, Sunda and Wallacea, the Philippines have acted as a conduit for the movements of people, material culture and ideas across Southeast Asia throughout prehistory. The Mindoro Archaeology Project investigates several caves and rockshelters from the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, located in Sta. Teresa and Ilin Island in Occidental Mindoro on the southern end of Mindoro and explores the deep history of the first anatomically modern humans in the Philippines, the timeline of their arrival and dispersal, and their adaptation to coastal and island environments. By at least 40,000 years ago, anatomically modern humans had arrived in the Philippines and successfully adapted to this new archipelagic environment. The period from the late Pleistocene to the early Holocene witnessed severe and rapid changes of climate and environment, and the adaptation, migration, and expansion into the various maritime habitats was crucial for these early humans to successfully establish their permanent presence in the region. The sites in Mindoro have yielded well-stratified archaeological deposits that are connected to an absolute radiocarbon chronology ranging from c. 35,000 years ago onwards (but likely significantly earlier) until c. 1500 AD. Cultural materials and biological remains indicate that particularly the late Pleistocene and early Holocene were periods of expanding mobility, significant social change, and technological innovation. The paper presents how variability in environment, sea level and landmass influenced the mobility, technology, subsistence strategies, and behavioural advancements of past human populations, and how these foragers utilised the different environments and natural resources they encountered. The results of our research and the richness and diversity of the identified resources challenge the common perception of prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies as constantly struggling for survival and living on the brink of extinction. On the contrary, our findings and data suggest that these early indigenous seafarers successfully adapted to maritime environments, employing various hunting and fishing strategies, managing useful and edible plants and fruits, all of which provided them with rich and nutritious diets. In this regard, these prehistoric islanders can certainly be regarded as an example of the Original Affluent Society, very much in line with Marshall Sahlins' concept. Keywords: Early Human Migration, Maritime Interaction, Hunter-Gatherer-Fishers, Behavioural Adaptation, Wallacea, Philippines

Download

Share

COinS