1
|
Xhauflair H, Jago-on S, Vitales TJ, Manipon D, Amano N, Callado JR, Tandang D, Kerfant C, Choa O, Pawlik A. The invisible plant technology of Prehistoric Southeast Asia: Indirect evidence for basket and rope making at Tabon Cave, Philippines, 39-33,000 years ago. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0281415. [PMID: 37390048 PMCID: PMC10313078 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 07/02/2023] Open
Abstract
A large part of our material culture is made of organic materials, and this was likely the case also during prehistory. Amongst this prehistoric organic material culture are textiles and cordages, taking advantage of the flexibility and resistance of plant fibres. While in very exceptional cases and under very favourable circumstances, fragments of baskets and cords have survived and were discovered in late Pleistocene and Holocene archaeological sites, these objects are generally not preserved, especially in tropical regions. We report here indirect evidence of basket/tying material making found on stone tools dating to 39-33,000 BP from Tabon Cave, Palawan Philippines. The distribution of use-wear on these artefacts is the same as the distribution observed on experimental tools used to thin fibres, following a technique that is widespread in the region currently. The goal of this activity is to turn hard plant segments into supple strips suitable as tying material or to weave baskets, traps, and even boats. This study shows early evidence of this practice in Southeast Asia and adds to the growing set of discoveries showing that fibre technology was an integral part of late Pleistocene skillset. This paper also provides a new way to identify supple strips of fibres made of tropical plants in the archaeological record, an organic technology that is otherwise most of the time invisible.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hermine Xhauflair
- School of Archaeology, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
- UMR 7194 of the CNRS, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle and Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris, France
| | - Sheldon Jago-on
- National Museum of the Philippines, City of Manila, Philippines
| | | | - Dante Manipon
- School of Archaeology, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
| | - Noel Amano
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
| | | | - Danilo Tandang
- National Museum of the Philippines, City of Manila, Philippines
| | - Céline Kerfant
- Departament d’Humanitats, Història / Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics (CaSEs), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Omar Choa
- UMR 7194 of the CNRS, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle and Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris, France
| | - Alfred Pawlik
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Boulanger C, Pawlik A, O'Connor S, Sémah AM, Reyes MC, Ingicco T. The Exploitation of Toxic Fish from the Terminal Pleistocene in Maritime Southeast Asia: A Case Study from the Mindoro Archaeological Sites, Philippines. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:2113. [PMID: 37443911 DOI: 10.3390/ani13132113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2023] [Revised: 06/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Representatives of the Diodontidae family (porcupinefish) are known to have been fished by prehistoric Indo-Pacific populations; however, the antiquity of the use of this family is thus far unknown. We report here on the presence of Diodontidae in the archaeological sites of Bubog I, II, and Bilat in Mindoro, Philippines, dating back to c. 13,000 BP (Before Present). This evidence demonstrates the early exploitation by islanders of poisonous fish. Every part of porcupinefish can be toxic, but the toxicity is mostly concentrated in some organs, while other parts are edible. The continuous presence of Diodontidae remains throughout the stratigraphic record of these Philippines shell middens suggests that porcupinefish were prepared by human inhabitants of the sites to render them safe for consumption, indicating an advanced cultural knowledge of the preparation needed to separate the toxic principle from the edible parts. This constitutes one of the rare examples of poison processing by humans, aside from the contentious wooden stick poison applicator from Border Cave (South Africa).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Clara Boulanger
- UMR 7194 Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
- Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science International Research Fellow, Department of Modern Society and Civilization, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka 565-8511, Japan
| | - Alfred Pawlik
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, School of Social Sciences, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City 1108, Philippines
- TRACES ASIA, 3F Eduardo J. Aboitiz Sandbox Zone, Areté, Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City 1108, Philippines
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sue O'Connor
- Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Anne-Marie Sémah
- UMR 7194 Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Marian C Reyes
- The National Museum of the Philippines, Manila 1000, Philippines
- School of Archaeology, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City 1101, Philippines
| | - Thomas Ingicco
- UMR 7194 Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 75005 Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Ochoa J, Mijares ASB, Piper PJ, Reyes MC, Heaney LR. Three new extinct species from the endemic Philippine cloud rat radiation (Rodentia, Muridae, Phloeomyini). J Mammal 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyab023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
The 18 extant members of the Tribe Phloeomyini, the “cloud rats,” constitute an endemic Philippine radiation of arboreal herbivores that range in size from ca. 18 g to 2.7 kg, most occurring in cloud forest above 1,200 m elevation. Although calibrated phylogenies indicate that the Phloeomyini is estimated to have begun diversifying within the Philippines by ca. 10–11 million years ago, no extinct fossil species have been described, severely limiting our understanding of this distinctive radiation. Our studies of fossil and subfossil small mammal assemblages from the lowland Callao Caves complex in NE Luzon, Philippines, have produced specimens of Phloeomyini that date from ca. 67,000 BP to the Late Holocene (ca. 4,000 to 2,000 BP). We identify three extinct species that we name as new members assigned to the genera Batomys, Carpomys, and Crateromys, distinguished from congeners by body size, distinctive dental and other morphological features, and occupancy of a habitat (lowland forest over limestone) that differs from the high-elevation mossy forest over volcanic soils occupied by their congeners. Batomys cagayanensis n. sp. is known only from two specimens from ca. 67,000 BP; Carpomys dakal n. sp. and Crateromys ballik n. sp. were present from ca. 67,000 BP to the Late Holocene. These add to the species richness and morphological diversity of this endemic Philippine radiation of large folivores, and show specifically that the lowland fauna of small mammals on Luzon was more diverse in the recent past than it is currently, and that Luzon recently supported five species of giant rodents (ca. 1 kg or more). All three occurred contemporaneously with Homo luzonensis, and two, the new Carpomys and Crateromys, persisted until the Late Holocene when multiple exotic mammal species, both domestic and invasive, were introduced to Luzon, and new cultural practices (such as making pottery) became evident, suggesting that modern humans played a role in their extinction.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Janine Ochoa
- Department of Anthropology, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon CityPhilippines
| | - Armand S B Mijares
- Archaeological Studies Program, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
- National Museum of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines
| | - Philip J Piper
- Archaeological Studies Program, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
- National Museum of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines
| | | | - Lawrence R Heaney
- National Museum of the Philippines, Manila, Philippines
- Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL, USA
| |
Collapse
|