The summer of 2023 brought hard labor and excitement for OCSEAN secondee Dr Hugo Reyes-Centeno (University of Tübingen and University of Kentucky) as he and colleagues diligently dug and shifted through the soils at the the Panhutongan Elementary School in Surigao del Norte, Philippines.
A collaboration that started from dialogues with local researchers from the St. Paul University Surigao resulted in re-excavation the site in July and August 2023. A successful Archeology Field School between collaborating institutes provided opportunity for young researchers to practice the digging, recording and other archeological methods. The analyses of the findings are underway, and these will add a whole new layer of knowledge about the prehistory of Surigao del Norte, piece of a puzzle of the archeological knowledge of the Philippines, in line with the OCSEAN aims of probing the past and the demographic history in the region. Photos by Ryan Lucas Henderson.
