Tabon Cave
Tabon Cave or Tabon Caves Complex (TCC) is located in Quezon, Palawan, a municipality located 155 kilometers southwest of the City of Puerto Princesa. It will take about 3 to 5 hours travel on paved road to reach the place. It is here where a human legbone (a tibia), estimated to be about 47,000 years old, was found. Also discovered in the cave are numerous clay jars one of which is the 2,000 year old Manunggul jar featured in the Philippines' 100 peso bill. Because of this discovery, the place was called the "Cradle of Philippine Civilization". The remains are showcased in the National Museum located in the municipality.
If you intend to go there, note the following visit schedules with a contact number:
You will need to travel briefly by boat to access the entrance to Tabon Cave in Lipuun point where a footbridge spans the shallow waters. The Lipuun Point Reservation is a 138-hectare museum site reservation that lies along the western coastline of Southern Palawan. It lies northwest of the Poblacion of the municipality of Quezon, and is bound on its north, east and west parts by bodies of water. It is located on a limestone promontory which is visible from any direction for many kilometers and honeycombed with at least 200 caves and rock shelters. The place used to be an island, but is now an isthmus connected to mainland Palawan through an extensive mangrove (Gonzales, 2010).
Once you get to the entrance of the TCC, you will need to climb up a flight of stairs to the excavation area where Dr. Robert B. Fox, an American anthropologist, discovered the Tabon man and the jars. At some point, locals have actually discovered more jars in the vicinity. It is possible that there are still hidden jars somewhere in the cave complex.
Gonzales, A. A., 2011. The existence value of Tabon Caves Complex using Contingent Valuation Method. Unpublished Master's Thesis. Palawan State University.
Municipality of Quezon, Palawan. pdf file on Tabon Cave. Available at https://www.palawan.gov.ph/docs/PDF/south_PDF/QUEZON.pdf