Putting PH on the map of modern human evolution
The recognition received by the discovery of Homo
luzonensis goes far beyond landing the cover of a prestigious scientific journal. For the Philippines, as well as University of the Philippines Archeological Studies Program (UP ASP) associate professor Dr. Armand Mijares, who led the team in this important discovery, it is a step closer to understanding the place of the Philippines in the origins of human activity.
In an interview shortly after landing the cover of the prestigious international scientific journal Nature,
Dr. Mijares said that the discovery of Homo luzonensis will have a wideranging impact. “We will have to revise our textbooks, not just in the Philippines but worldwide.”
He explained that each discovery leads to furthering our understanding of human activity, as well as disproving long-held notions. Land bridges, for example, long the content of school textbooks as the way by which humans migrated from one continent to another, was cast into doubt and eventually disproven, thanks to discoveries like the Sundaland, the now-submerged biogeographical landmass in Southeastern Asia linking the Malay Peninsula with larger surrounding islands.
That the Philippines was uninhabited until fully formed Malays arrived is something that was debunked only in the 1980s, after decades of being drilled into the minds of Filipino schoolchildren.
The discovery of Homo luzonensis puts the Philippines on a different level as far as the history of human evolution is concerned.
Most people, scientists included, do not believe that Homo erectus (Java
Man) lived in the Philippines. “I used to believe that Homo sapiens only arrived in the Philippines,” said Dr. Mijares, referring to Tabon man, which was, until
Homo luzonensis was found, the oldest human fossil unearthed in the Philippines. At around 16,500 years old, it already belonged to the more recent ancestors of modern man. “But now, I believe there could be other species that can be found in the Philippines. We just need to look for it,” he said. The team discovered Homo lu
zonensis after several diggings over 2007, 2011 and 2015 in Callao Cave in the northeastern Luzon province of Cagayan. The excavation yielded 13 fossils: one thigh bone, 3 foot bones, 2 hand bones, and 7 teeth belonging to three individuals. Most significant is that what the team discovered was a new species of hominins – the group of primates of which only one,
Homo sapiens, exists today. More interestingly, the new species had a combination of Australopithecinelike and Homo sapiens-like features, meaning, they are closer ancestors to modern human beings. The bones are believed to be relatively recent: around 67,000 years old.
For now, UP ASP is reaching out to other educational institutions in an effort to share its expertise, both in excavation as well as developing courses in archaeology to raise awareness and interest in the discipline. Dr. Mijares added that partnerships can be replicated with key state universities and colleges so that regional archaeology will develop.
Dr. Mijares believes that discoveries such as that of Homo luzonensis open up possibilities of multidisciplinary involvement of the biological sciences, geology, chemistry, physics, dentistry, forensic science, and environmental science, as well as bigger collaborations between academe.
“We know so very little of the past,” he said, adding that he remains hopeful that with this new discovery, things will finally move forward towards understanding more of our collective history, not just as Filipinos, but as humans.