Group 6 November 10, 2020

12 – Aristotle Mr. Bobby T. Gonzales

Celestino, Ashley A.
Dang-awan, Haiana Shayne L.
Evangelio, Khyle Dave D.
Francisco, Charles V.
Gamalong, Erwin M.

Callao Man
With Philippines having more than 7,000 islands, it is considered as one in a
million discoveries for archaeologists to find a cache of carved rhino bones and
hundreds of stone tools on the largest island in the Philippines, Luzon. This is the Callao
Man also known as ‘Homo Luzonensis’, known as the second dwarf human. Homo
Luzonensis were the only hominids that inhabited Luzon Island. While exploring the
rocky floor and the cold caves of Callao Cave on Luzon Island, researchers uncovered
a number of fossils from what might be an ancient human species that have never been
discovered before. Archaeologists are curious who exactly these ancient people were
and how they crossed the deep seas that covered the island and others in South East
Asia.
Homo luzonensis, this species inhabited Luzon more than 50,000 years ago.
They lived at the same time with the more advanced species the Homo
neanderthalensis and the Homo sapiens, or modern humans. These early humans also
lived at the same time as the “Hobbit” species, Homo floresiensis a species found in
Indonesia, but their tooth and foot shape, along with other traits, mark them as a distinct
species all their own. Back in 2007, archaeologists in Luzon discovered a single foot
bone (or metatarsal) in Callao Cave, which they dated to 67,000 years ago. Analysis of
that fossil suggested it belonged to a member of the genus Homo, but they didn’t know
which species. The fossils found in the cave—including several foot and hand bones, a
partial femur and teeth—shared some with more primitive hominin species such as
Australopithecus and Homo erectus, as well as more advanced ones, including Homo
sapiens and Homo floresiensis. The fossils found in the cave included several foot and
hand bones, partial femur and teeth. What really got me interested was the teeth, as
there are no other species that have the same traits as the Homo Luzonensis. The foot
bones they dug up is different from the bones that you’d see today, the bones had
features which would’ve made climbing trees easier and while still walking on two legs
upright.
 Discovering and finding our pasts feels really satisfying, it is like being able to
move one more step towards completely understanding who we really are. This
discovery is a great stepping stone for us to gain understanding about how the Filipino
race developed and give us a background study of how our ancestors live in the past.
We should investigate and study our pasts and see how different or how similar they
lived to us modern humans. Through learning more about our past we can all develop
the same sense of appreciation towards how our ancestors continued to prolong and
develop our species. Without them we would probably be stuck in a more primitive era
of humans.

References:
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/new-species-of-human--homo-luzonensis--
identified-in-the-philippines-65722
https://allthatsinteresting.com/callao-man-homo-luzonensis