Holocene Large Mammal Extinctions in Palawan Island, Philippines

Abstract

Zooarchaeological assemblages from northern Palawan, Philippines document the changing composition of the island’s mammal fauna during the Late Quaternary. Ille Cave site has a well-dated archaeological sequence dating from the Terminal Pleistocene to the Holocene that includes identifications of tiger, two species of deer and a canid. This faunal record is compared with that of Pasimbahan Cave, which has an assemblage of Middle to Late Holocene age based on artifact associations, biostratigraphic correlation and preliminary radiocarbon dates. At least three large mammals were extirpated in the Holocene. The asynchronous timing of the extinctions signals different trajectories and dynamics of extinction, likely resulting from a combination of climatic, geographic and anthropogenic factors. These records also chronicle human response to these environmental changes. As deer populations on the island diminish by the Middle Holocene, human foragers in the Dewil Valley switch to the Palawan bearded pig as their main large mammal resource Show more