This Happened Here
Cagayan Valley: the cave and the giant province
A foot bone found in Callao Cave in 2007 led to Homo luzonensis, a human species named in 2019. The valley above was once one province covering all of northeast Luzon.
1:00 · Cagayan Valley · October 9, 2026
The story
In a cave in Cagayan, scientists found people no one knew had ever existed. In 2007, a single foot bone turned up in Callao Cave, in Peñablanca. It was dated to about sixty-seven thousand years ago.
More digging found twelve more bones and teeth, from at least three individuals. In 2019 the team named them a new species: Homo luzonensis. The valley above was once one giant province, Cagayan, covering the whole northeast of Luzon.
They say its name comes from carayan, river. Others say tagay, a plant. In 1839 the south became Nueva Vizcaya. In 1856 Isabela was carved out, named for Queen Isabel the Second. And at Palanan, on Isabela's coast, American forces captured Emilio Aguinaldo in 1901.
Have you been inside Callao Cave? Tell us in the comments.
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