Rizal Archaeological Site (Kalinga)

The Rizal Archaeological Site is an archaeological area situated in Rizal, Kalinga, Philippines.

The first fossils were discovered on the archaeological site in 1935. On 1977, President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. declared the site as an archaeological reserve.

Archaeological findings
Archaeologists unearthed from the site about 50 stone tools and animal fossils, which were dated approximately 709,000 years old to 608,000 years ago during the Pleistocene epoch, known as the last ice age. A fossil of a butchered Rhinoceros Philippinensis was also found, which has been extinct in the Philippines since at least 100,000 years ago.

The archaeologists also noted the diverse technology employed by ancient people in Kalinga, evidenced by the various tools unearthed at the site, including a stone hammer. In one of the rhino bones studied, a scar was found on the bone surface, which a stone tool could be used.

Impact
The Rizal Archaeological Site pushed back the first known human activity in the Philippines 10 times earlier. Prior to the excavation, the oldest fossil discovered in the country was the foot bone found in 2010 in Callao Cave, Cagayan Valley. The bone was dated at least 67,000 years old.