Ancient site · Tomb
Manunggul Cave (Tabon Caves)
Also known as Manunggul Jar
Manunggul Cave is one of the Tabon Caves at Lipuun Point in Palawan, Philippines, a cave complex used for burials over thousands of years and explored in 1962–1966. Its most famous find is the Manunggul Jar, a secondary-burial jar dated to about 890–710 BCE.
Its lid carries two figures in a boat, thought to show a soul being ferried to the afterlife, a common idea among Austronesian seafaring peoples. The jar is a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines and is shown at the National Museum of Anthropology in Manila.
- Dates
- Manunggul Jar c. 890–710 BCE
- Still standing
- Yes
- Location
- 9.28° N, 117.98° E
How we know
No writing existed; the burial jar is dated by radiocarbon on material from the cave.
Nearby sites
- Kutai yūpa inscriptions second half of the 4th century CE
- Óc Eo c. 2nd century BCE – 7th century CE
- Đông Sơn c. 1000 BCE – 1st century CE (culture)
- Ban Chiang c. 2000 or 1500 BCE – c. 200 CE (start date disputed)
- Cổ Loa Citadel c. 4th–2nd century BCE
- Plain of Jars jars placed perhaps c. 1240–660 BCE; burials at Site 1 8th–13th centuries CE