S49-1

Preliminary Geological Characterization of Flint Materials Used in Tabon Cave, Palawan, Philippines

National Museum of the Philippines, Philippines

Tabon cave was home to the first discovered Homonin species in the Philippines. As one of prehistoric research sites of the International Master in Quaternary and Prehistory (IMQP), it has been extensively studied which led to deeper understanding of the chronology of the Philippine Paleolithic period.  A study made by (Schmidt 2009), analyzed jasper artifacts that was used for debitage in Tabon Cave for raw material sourcing. The study concluded that the Tabon cave inhabitants sourced their tools from Panitian River and Malatgao River, 8-9 kilometers from the cave site. However, the study used a small sample size consisting of only 9 jasper artifacts from a trench without a clear stratigraphic context due to treasure hunting activities prior to excavation, thus a systematic attribution to Robert Fox’s lithic assemblage was not accomplished. This study will aim to generate preliminary geological characterization of artifacts that has not been analyzed (i.e., flint). Furthermore, it will attempt to use a large sample size from an excavation with a clear stratigraphic context according to Robert Fox’s lithic assemblage. Initially, this study will use optical microscopy for petrographic characterization of the samples and Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy for obtaining high resolution images and geochemical analyses. Other geochemical methods will be applied in the future to support the preliminary analysis. Sampling of flint deposits in Palawan island will be surveyed and collected to create a comparison with the sampling materials for provenance study in the future field season. This study hopes to contribute to the lithic material research in Tabon Cave.