Javier co-authors study in Cambridge Archaeological Journal

Assoc. Prof. Jem R. Javier has published his co-authored work, “Halimaw na/ng nakalipas: Power, Personhood, and the Tigers of Palawan Island, Philippines,” in the latest issue of the Cambridge Archaeological Journal. The study is co-authored with Janine Ochoa (UPD School of Archaeology), Alexandra de Leon (National Museum of the Philippines), Madilene Landicho (UPD Department of Anthropology), Ame Garong (National Museum of the Philippines), Myra Lara (Birkbeck University of London), Jane Carlos (UPD School of Archaeology), Patricia Cabrera (UPD School of Archaeology), and Gaddi Narte (Indigenous Political Structure, Maasin, Quezon).

Their work focuses on nine specimens attributed to the tiger (Panthera tigris; harimau/halimaw) discovered from Pilandok Cave, Palawan, and finds that the “evidence also demonstrates a specific treatment and use of tiger body parts, a practice that is potentially related to conceptions of power and personhood attributable to a formidable being such as the harimau. During this period, tigers were once part of the plurispecies social world that humans co-inhabited.”

Javier’s co-authored work may be read at this site.