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This research uncovers fossil evidence of human-tiger interactions in Palawan, suggesting complex social dynamics involving power.
Fossil remains of a large pantherine have been discovered from Pilandok Cave on Palawan Island, Philippines. A total of nine specimens are attributed to the tiger ( Panthera tigris ; harimau/halimaw ) and these derive from an archaeological midden layer that dates to the Last Glacial Maximum. These rare finds add to the limited Late Pleistocene fossil inventory of the tiger in the archipelago. Taphonomic analysis of tiger bone surface modifications show evidence for human butchery, which are interpreted as cut marks for obtaining tiger pelt or paws. Three deer bone specimens show marks of large carnivore ravaging and these gnawing marks are attributed to the tiger. The Pilandok Cave evidence supports the hypothesis that the Sunda tiger once resided on Palawan during the Late Pleistocene. The evidence also demonstrates a specific treatment and use of tiger body parts, a practice that is potentially related to conceptions of power and personhood attributable to a formidable being such as the harimau . During this period, tigers were once part of the plurispecies social world that humans co-inhabited.
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Ochoa et al. (2026) studied this question.
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