S15-11

Phenomenology of Cave: The Case of Dewil Valley and Linapacan Archaeological Sites (Palawan, Philippines)

Zuzanna Kowalczyk & Karolina Joka

Faculty of Archaeology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poland

It is not uncommon that certain places are given a symbolic, special meaning - and unusual things require special treatment, do’s and don’ts to keep the order intact. Caves all over the world have been accorded such special significance, which is mirrored in people’s traditions and behaviours towards them, as well – interactions with them. Caves may be associated with rituals and processes of healing, fertility, magical and astronomical powers, knowledge, and the faith in immortality (Genov 2018). A cave can be a passage from light to darkness, the land of people – to the realm of ancestors, demons, and unknowns. Citing Dimitrij Mlekuž (2019: 45): A cave is a rupture in the fabric of the world, a place where the innards of the landscape become accessible. We must then face the cave: its materiality, its quality of textures, its shapes and forms, its chill and its darkness; the unusual, the distinctive and the individuality of the place.  Inspired by Christopher Tilley’s (2008) phenomenological approach to the study of the landscape, we attempted to understand the meaning of cave archaeological sites in the Dewil Valley and Ille Cave, Linapacan (Palawan, Philippines). Based on numerous interdisciplinary methods of research conducted in 2019 and 2022, such as ethnographic interviews, participant observation, archaeological evidence analysis, voice recording, and the set of the methods proposed by Tilley (2008) we will try to answer several research questions: what are and were the practical aspects of caves utilisation in the chosen chronological periods? What may have derived people to go inside, and what made them avoid the innards? What are the contemporary beliefs and taboos related to the caves? What are the sensorial experiences that seem significant in these stories? Is there anything specific in the contemporary practices that make caves special or separated from other landscape elements?