Ancient Palawan man: Cement masons

To ensure soft sandstone would not be worn away by the elements, Palawan man coated it with hard cement.  They also used cement to cast blocks of concrete and decorated them while still soft.    Notice how quickly the white stone is worn away without the coating.
Photo Philip Maise 2013

Other ancients around the world did the same.  This image shows cement protecting sandstone in Petra .
Photo:  "PetraSandStoneRock-cut tombs" by Etan J. Tal



Ancient Palawan man also made life size sculptures like these three elephants. They must have been fantastic before they were damaged by someone who likely hoped they hid treasure.

There were found in Tabon Caves in 2013 by Philip Maise.  Notice the baby elephant to the right.  Zoom in to see the trunk, eye, and ear.  The mother elephant, center, still shows the damage from someone striking it on her right hind leg.  Asian elephants still live on neighboring Borneo Island. 

Return to The Great Sphinx of Palawan, or
Challenge yourself.  Try and find images made long ago.  Ancient image challenge.  



The ancients hand mixed their components (wet lime and volcanicash) in a mortar box with very little water to give a nearly dry composition;carried it to the job site in baskets placing it over a previously preparedlayer of rock pieces; and then proceeded to pound the mortar into the rocklayer. Fortunately, we have proof. Vitruvius, the noted Roman architect(cir. 20 BC) mentioned this process in his history formulas for his concrete,plus the fact that special tamping tools were used to build a cistern wall.    "The Riddle of Ancient Roman Concrete" by David Moore, P.E.