Archaeology of Makangit Maliit na Bato Rockshelter in El Nido, Palawan, Philippines

This paper presents the initial results of the excavation of the Makangit Maliit na Bato (MNB) Rockshelter Site in Brgy. New Ibajay, El Nido, northern Palawan. The majority and nature of recovered materials from this archaeological site (i.e., human bones, earthenware sherds, metals, shell and glass beads) categorize it as a jar burial site during the Metal Periods or around 500 BC to AD 900. Considering the other cultural materials found (i.e., chert flakes, tradeware potsherds), however, could extend the tentative date of the site’s use to the 19th century AD and, on the opposite direction of the spectrum, probably to an earlier period. It is thus possible that the burial site has been used for a longer period of time up to the 19th century and that materials previously thought to characterize the Metal periods were still in use until around the later period.