PH islands had advanced maritime culture up to 35,000 years ago — study
A map of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) and Sunda Region as it appeared roughly 25,000 years ago at the height of the last Ice Age, with locations of archeological sites surveyed by the Mindoro Archaeology Project. The sites yielded artifacts with remarkably similar characteristics despite separation by thousands of kilometers and deep waters that are almost impossible to cross without sufficiently advance seafaring knowledge and technology. Base map gebco.net, 2014
Some islands in Occidental Mindoro had a technologically advanced maritime culture 35,000 years ago, according to a study by the Ateneo de Manila University.
Published on June 1, 2025, the 'Chronology and Ecology of Early Islanders in the Philippines: The Mindoro Archeology Project' presented some of the oldest evidence of the presence of Homo sapiens in the country, particularly on Ilin Island, San Jose, and Sta. Teresa in Magsaysay, Occidental Mindoro.
According to the study, Mindoro's early inhabitants used both terrestrial and marine resources, as shown in the human remains, animal bones, shells, and tools made from stone, bone, and shell found in archeological sites.
Samples of ancient technology discovered in and around Mindoro.
The study noted that Mindoro's early inhabitants possessed seafaring capabilities and specific fishing skills that allowed them to catch predatory open-sea fish species, such as bonito and shark.
These skills also allow them to establish connections with distant islands and populations in the vast maritime region of Wallacea, a group of islands primarily in Indonesia.
Mindoro's early inhabitants used shells as raw materials to make tools more than 30,000 years ago. An example is the manufacture of adzes from giant clam shells (Tridacna species), dating back 7,000 to 9,000 years ago.
The study indicated that Mindoro's tools have a 'striking similarity' to shell adzes found across the regions of Island Southeast Asia and as far as Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
Researchers also found that on Ilin Island in Mindoro, a human grave dating around 5,000 years ago has a body laid in a fetal position and bedded and covered with limestone slabs.
This burial resembles other burials found in Southeast Asia, suggesting shared ideological and social influences.
The study also showed that Mindoro's early inhabitants were 'culturally sophisticated' people who were 'behaviorally and technologically adapted' to coastal and marine environments.
This evidence suggests that Mindoro and nearby Philippine islands were part of the extensive maritime network that existed since the Stone Age and engaged in cultural and technological exchange with the early human populations across Island Southeast Asia.
The Mindoro Archeology Project is a 15-year international research initiative co-undertaken by the Ateneo de Manila University. — BAP, GMA Integrated News
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