title: New evidence for a 67,000-year-old human presence at Callao Cave, Luzon, Philippines.
abstract: Documentation of early human migrations through Island Southeast Asia and Wallacea en route to Australia has always been problematic due to a lack of well-dated human skeletal remains. The best known modern humans are from Niah Cave in Borneo (40-42ka), and from Tabon Cave on the island of Palawan, southwest Philippines (47+/-11ka). The discovery of Homo floresiensis on the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia has also highlighted the possibilities of identifying new hominin species on islands in the region. Here, we report the discovery of a human third metatarsal from Callao Cave in northern Luzon. Direct dating of the specimen using U-series ablation has provided a minimum age estimate of 66.7+/-1ka, making it the oldest known human fossil in the Philippines. Its morphological features, as well as size and shape characteristics, indicate that the Callao metatarsal definitely belongs to the genus Homo. Morphometric analysis of the Callao metatarsal indicates that it has a gracile structure, close to that observed in other small-bodied Homo sapiens. Interestingly, the Callao metatarsal also falls within the morphological and size ranges of Homo habilis and H. floresiensis. Identifying whether the metatarsal represents the earliest record of H. sapiens so far recorded anywhere east of Wallace's Line requires further archaeological research, but its presence on the isolated island of Luzon over 65,000 years ago further demonstrates the abilities of humans to make open ocean crossings in the Late Pleistocene.
authors.affiliation: Archaeological Studies Program, Palma Hall, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. armand.mijares@up.edu.ph
authors.forename: Armand Salvador
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Mijares
authors.forename: Florent
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Détroit
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Piper
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grün
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bellwood
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aubert
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Champion
authors.forename: Nida
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cuevas
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Leon
authors.forename: Eusebio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dizon
mesh_terms: D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; D005580:Fossils; D008682:Metatarsal Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D010679:Philippines; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D014501:Uranium