Upstream! Climb and Conquer!
A composite team of Surigao City councilors and local historians visited Escalon Cave to assess its present condition, after the publication of the news that the fossilized bone and teeth fragments of Escalon Man found in Escalon Cave in the 1980s was dated to 4,700 BC using carbon-dating.
City Tourism Officer Roselyn Armida Merlin, Jake Miranda, City Councilors Cacel Azarcon, Joshua Emilio Geli, Mario Gesta, SK President Janree Gonzales, CDRRMO and Cagniog Barangay Council in their assessment and inspection of Escalon Cave in Brgy. Cagniog, Surigao City yesterday afternoon.
Jake Miranda, a deputized officer of the National Museum, said a local treasure hunter way back in the late 1980s unearthed human-like bone and teeth fragments in Escalon Cave.
The treasure hunter, a local furniture manufacturer and dealer now deceased, fortunately and to his redemption in 1993 turned over the fossils found in Escalon Cave to then local historian and now Dr. Fernando “Jun” Almeda Jr.
It is said that the hunter felt cursed by his accessing the Escalon Cave in violation of the custom of enlisting the assistance of the local shaman to conduct a ritual ceremony to seek the permission of the unseen spirits prior to entering Escalon Cave.
Thus feeling accursed, the treasure hunter-furniture maker and dealer felt compelled to give the fossils to Almeda.
Through the years, Almeda coordinated with the University of the Philippines and Japanese archaeologists to study the fossils in detail.
The cave was visited by Almeda and Japanese scientists in 2015.
In 2019, the scientific paper announcing the results of the study was presented to the scientific community in Japan and in 2020 was formally published in their international journal. The abstract of the paper says that Escalon man lived around 4,700 years BC, was 170cm (5 feet 7 inches) tall and probably a farmer with sturdy legs and thick arms. A combination of carbon dating, DNA analysis and comparison with other Neolithic fossils was used by the scientists to come to this conclusion.
Escalon Cave lies upstream from the old Escalon curve road where a new diversion bridge was constructed by DPWH. The cave which is a concave doline or collapsed limestone structure is on a cliff beside the shallow Escalon River at Barangay Cagniog of Surigao City.
After the visit of the Surigao City councilors and composite team, Barangay Cagniog officials were instructed to start protecting the site for future archaeological studies. City Tourism Officer Roselyn Armida B. Merlin also visited another cave upstream. She requested the City Councilors led by Atty. Cacel Azarcon to declare the area as historical archaeological site in the city. (with Jake Miranda | OIC Jun Clerigo, RPN DXKS Surigao) Â