Archaeologists have recently published in the International Journal of Osteoarcheology, a full report on the discovery of early Holocene burials while excavating in the Ille cave, Palawan, Philippines, where the bones of one individual bear the marks of a complex de-fleshing ritual.
The island of Palawan, situated between Borneo to the south and the Philippine archipelago to the north and east, is important for its links with the Sundaic region of Southeast Asia. Many cave sites are known from the island, including Tabon Cave, which has human remains dating to c. 45,000 BP and further north in Callao Cave in Cagayan with the earliest human remains in the Philippines to 67, 000 BP (see Mijares etal Journal of Human Evolution 59 (2010) 123-132.
Cremation burial as found. Ille cave site in the background. Images: V. Paz & H. Lewis
Ille is a solution cave and rockshelter at the base of a c. 75m-high karst tower near the village of New Ibajay, El Nido. The site comprises east and west rock-shelter mouths, opening onto a relatively flat platform of silt loam, in a setting of light woodland. In 1998 the National Museum of the Philippines began a long-term survey and excavation programme in the region, including Ille and other nearby caves and their surroundings.
Well-preserved fragments of bones
One of the most exciting discoveries by Myra Lara and Victor Paz of the Archaeological Studies Program of the University of the Philippines with H. Lewis and W. Solheim II of the School of Archaeology of the University College Dublin (Solheim is also from the UP Diliman) was the discovery and excavation of well-preserved fragments of bones, likely of a young or middle-aged woman, in the cave of Ille. C14 dating has show that her bones are between 9,000 to 9,400 years old.
The burial was sandwiched between shell middens from the late Pleistocene archaeological sequences to the early Holocene [9663–9951 cal bp (OxA-14899) and 10476–10687 cal bp (OxA-14592)] and contained evidence of human activity, including hearths, charcoal, shell, burnt and unburnt animal bones and stone tools.
In total, five human burials bearing a similar pattern of modifications and deposition were discovered, each placed in discrete stacks within a small area of less than 8 m2 . However, it is C.758, currently the most extensively studied of these burials and the topic of the publication that is causing most excitement.
Unusual marks
The burial consisted of a shallow cylindrical-shaped feature approximately 15 cm in height and around 23 cm in diameter distinguished from the surrounding matrix by the dense concentration of fragmentary human bone.
Examination of the reconstructed individual showed evidence of multi-directional grooves on the left tibia and perforations on the ends of the left fibula that suggest that actions had occurred to the body that are not usually related to the post mortem processing.
For example, numerous bone surface modifications were identified within the skeletal remains including scrape marks, cut-marks and impact scars, that were all characteristic of damage caused by people in the course of processing the body.
Cut-marks occurred as single or grouped linear incisions, predominantly located at points on the bone close to ends which suggests the joints were severed. Impact scars tended to be in discrete areas where a heavy object had impacted on the bone surface.
The presence of scrape marks extending across two or more reconstructed fragments of bone fractured skeletal elements implied also that defleshing had occurred prior to the bones being smashed. The presence of striations on the surfaces also indicated that areas of bones struck were already de-fleshed. If the flesh had been present, it would have sustained the impact, protecting the bones from damage.
Composite image of the reconstructed skeleton in Context 758 showing sustained cutmarks (red lines), scrape marks (yellow bold lines), and percussion marks (red filled circles). The size of the markings had been exaggerated to render them more visible. Also note the good representation of the cranium, femora, fibulae, radii, and ulnae. Fragments or conjoining fragments were photographed separately with scale and similar lighting, and then images were assembled electronically. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
Final acts of ritual
It is possible to reconstruct the final acts of ritual, as the skinned and de-fleshed skull, femur, tibia and arm bones were hammered and smashed with a hammerstone on a stone anvil.
The bones were then collected for cremation and subjected to a temperature that was high enough for calcination to occur – though there are variations in the burn marks which need further analysis.
The bone fragments after cremation were collected, cleaned and placed in a container or bag before the final deposition or burial. Myra Lara, the first author of the paper explained in the IMPHscience website, “We really do not have a way of knowing whether they were cleaned; the assumption was made only because there were not much charcoal included in the assemblage.”
This elaborate burial ritual of course does not mean that cannibalism happened as it is clear this complex act indicates a sophisticated expression of the groups cosmology, however Dr. Victor Paz adds, “.. regarding what happened to the flesh, this is anyone´s guess.”
http://www.chauvetdreams.co.uk/the-kabayan-fire-mummies/
9000 year old de-fleshing ritual revealed in the Philippines
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