OPDAS CAVE

                           Cave of skulls and bones, Opdas Cave Mass Burial, 500-1000 years old.

                             Kabayan Town, The Cordillera Mountains, Benguet Province, Luzon,

                             Philippines, Southeast Asia, Asia.

       Located about 300 meters from the municipal building. Considered

            as one of the biggest burial caves in the municipality, it has 200 skulls

            and bones neatly piled on ledges reminiscent of the catacombs of Rome

               Philippines, Luzon Island, The Cordillera Mountains, Benguet Province,

        Kabayan. Opdas Cave – mass burial cave of skulls and bones 500-1000 years old.

                   The Opdas  Cave is considered as one  of the biggest burial caves

                     in Kabayan. It contains hundred of skulls piled on  the sides,

                 and thousands of bones and several coffins placed on the cave’s  floor.

       This group of mummies, made by members of the Ibaloi tribe, were found in caves

       in an area around Kabayan, a town in the Benguet province of the Philippines

        (north of Manila). Well-preserved human mummies were initially found in Timbak

       cave, Bangao cave, Tenongchol cave, Naapay and Opdas.

       However, when the mummies were rediscovered in the early 1900s, many were

       stolen then and later, including the “smiling mummy” (stolen in the 1970s) which

        was known for having an intact set of teeth.

       The mummies, which were laid to rest in mostly unprotected caves,  have been

       designated as one of the 100 Most Endangered Sites in the world by Monument

       Watch, a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of important

        monuments and sites.

       Scientists disagree on this point. Some believe that the mummies were created

       by the Ibaloi between 1200 and 1500 A.D. in five towns in the Benguet province

       of the Philippines and buried in caves. Others believe that the mummification

       practices date to 2000 B.C. What isn’t in doubt, however, is that when the Spanish

       colonized the Philippines in the 1500s, they discouraged the making of mummies

       and the practice died out.

       It appears that only tribal leaders were mummified, though this theory may change

       with more discoveries and tests. The mummification was begun, if possible, shortly

        before a person died. The person swallowed a very salty drink to start the process. 

        Then, after death, the body was washed and seated in a chair that was set over

       a glowing fire. The purpose was not to burn the body but to dry the fluids by exposing

        it to external heat. Tobacco smoke was then blown into the person’s mouth to dry

       the inside of the body and internal organs. Finally, herbs were rubbed on the body.

       The drying/smoking process would have lasted many weeks and perhaps a number

        of months before the mummy was finished. Then it was taken to a cave for burial.

       (Source: Reuters, 4/22/99)