Rizal, Kalinga archeological site a National Cultural Treasure

Tabuk City, Kalinga – The archaeological site in Rizal that changed world history with the unearthing of the slaughtered rhinoceros was declared a National Cultural Treasure.

The Municipality of Rizal received the official marker on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, the Kalinga Provincial Tourism announced.

The Provincial Tourism Office quoted that the site is protected for its “outstanding historical, cultural, artistic and/or scientific value which is significant and important to the country and to the nation.”

Back in 2014, archaeologists who were working at the excavation area first found a tooth that the local people they were working with thought was just a rock. Once confirmed it was a tooth, the team continued unearthing until they found a rhinoceros fossil which was described to be 75% intact.

In 2018, the National Museum announced that the butchered rhino’s fossil excavated from Rizal town date back to 709,000 years ago, a time which History books say humans didn’t exist in the Philippines yet.

Human settlers were believed to have first set foot in the country 67,000 years ago.

Other fossils found from the site include monitor lizard, box turtle, Philippine brown deer, and the stegodon which is a cousin to an elephant.

The tooth and bones belonging to the rhino unearthed in Kalinga are on exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History.

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