UPSA Zooarchaeology Lab

21/09/2026

Last September 15th, Dr. Juan C. Rofes and Ms. Joan Quincy Lingao, from the UPSA Zooarch Lab, were invited to the 216th Anniversary of the Proclamation of the Independence of Mexico by H.E. Ambassador Daniel Hernandez Joseph. The event, held at the Grand Ballroom 3, Hyatt Manila hotel, was attended by a multitude of diplomats from different countries and representatives from the Culture and the Arts of the Philippines. In the pictures below, Dr. Rofes and Quincy appear in the company of H.E. the Ambassador of the United Mexican States (USM); H.E. Carmen del Rocio Azurin Araujo, newly appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Peru; Marcos Octavio Vara Jacobo (Head of Economic-Commercial, Promotion, International Cooperation and Cultural Affairs, USM); UP-DEL professors Miguel Blazquez and Marlon James Sales, and four representatives of UP Diliman’s Office of International Linkages (UP-OILD). Dr. Rofes and Quincy had the opportunity to showcase our activities in the framework of a cheerful soiree and international networking.🥂🍾

14/09/2026

Join UPSA Associate Professor, Director of Center for Heritage Studies, and Zooarchaeologist Dr. Janine Ochoa this Thursday, September 17th, at the National Museum of Anthropology as she discusses tigers in ancient Palawan from 20,000 years ago and their potential role in past conceptions of power and personhood. The actual fossils will be displayed during the talk, for those who would like to see them. 🐅🦴

𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓?

Learn more about tigers from ancient Palawan. Join us for a public lecture that sheds light on ancient tigers from 20,000 years ago and what their story reveals about conceptions of power, identity, and prehistoric life on the island.

"𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒘 𝑵𝒂/𝑵𝒈 𝑵𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒔: 𝑷𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓, 𝑷𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒏 𝑰𝒔𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝑷𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔"

🎙️ Speaker: 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐎𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐚, 𝐏𝐡𝐃 (Associate Professor, UP School of Archaeology)
📅 Date & Time: 𝟏𝟕 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 | 𝟐:𝟎𝟎 𝐏𝐌 – 𝟔:𝟎𝟎 𝐏𝐌
📍 Venue: 𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝟐, 𝟐/𝐅, 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲

𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: forms.gle/HY6ssyzrXJhf5cZN6

Uncover the past. Rewrite what you thought you knew.

𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐔𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐂! — see you there!

For further inquiries, please contact [email protected]

11/09/2026

28/08/2026

Last Wednesday, August 26th, zooarcher Patrick Castro successfully defended his Master's thesis proposal entitled "Subsistence and Paleoenvironment through the Archaeomalacology and Taphonomy of the Sohoton III Shell Midden in Samar". 👏🏽 Congratulations! We can't wait to learn all about shells! 🐚🦪

24/08/2026

Happy 31st founding anniversary to our dear UPSA! May the School continue its growth, for the future of Philippine archaeology! ❤️‍🔥

UPSA at 31 — today marks the 31st founding anniversary of the University of the Philippines School of Archaeology, formerly known as the Archaeological Studies Program. The UP Board of Regents established the program on August 24, 1995, as an interdisciplinary unit dedicated to archaeological teaching, research, and heritage work. Over the years, it grew into a leading center for archaeological scholarship and training in the Philippines, before being elevated to the School of Archaeology in 2022. Today, UPSA continues its mission of advancing the study, understanding, and preservation of the Philippines’ archaeological heritage and strengthening the role of archaeology in understanding our shared past.

Stay tuned to the ArchaeoSoc - University of the Philippines and Binalot Talks for updates on the activities to come!

06/08/2026

Last Wednesday, July 29th, Bangsamoro Commission for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage (BCPCH) Chairperson and Concurrent Commissioner for Lanao del Sur Robert M. Alonto, together with BCPCH officials, visited the UP School of Archaeology (UPSA) to explore future collaborations and discuss the development of a regional archaeology program for the Bangsamoro region. They were joined by Mr. Aaron Jeff Usman, Chief of Operations, and Mr. Glenn Francis Lanticse, Bangsamoro Museum Curator.

As part of their visit to UPSA, they passed by the UPSA Zooarchaeology Lab, where Lab Head Dr. Juan Rofes welcomed them with a tour of the lab, showing them our reference collections and materials, and explained the role of zooarchaeology in understanding past narratives.

We are very grateful for the BCPCH’s visit and are looking forward to future collaborations to promote Bangsamoro history and cultural heritage through zooarchaeological research!

30/07/2026

Congratulations to UPSA Associate Professor, Director of Centre for Heritage Studies, and Zooarchaeologist Dr. Janine Ochoa on this newly published research paper entitled "Halimaw na/ng nakalipas: Power, Personhood, and the Tigers of Palawan Island, Philippines". Recent MS graduate Patricia Cabrera is also one of the co-authors. Kudos!

Check out the open access article here: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774326100638

A full translation of this article into Filipino is also available here: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774326100638.sm001

21/07/2026

The latest International Council for Archaeozoology - ICAZ Newsletter has featured some activities by our lab—check it out here:https://alexandriaarchive.org/icaz/icaz_website_formembers/pdf/icaz-newsletter-26-2.pdf

This upcoming IPPA23, lab head Dr. Juan Rofes, along with colleague Dr. Rosalind Gillis of the German Archaeological Institute, will be organising a workshop on the establishment of an Indo-Pacific ICAZ Working Group. 🌴 (See p. 8 )

Alumna Fredeliza Campos, now based at the University of Sydney, talked about the importance of ichtyoarchaeology and the UPSA Zooarch Lab’s fish bone reference collection which—fun fact!—was originally sourced and prepared by her. 🐟 (See p. 11)

The latest newsletter of International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ) features the following involvements of UPSA Zooarchaeology Lab of UP School of Archaeology:

a. "Towards an Expanding Southeast Asian Ichthyoarchaeological
Scholarship: Revitalising the UP School of Archaeology’s Fish Bone
Reference Collection" by UPSA alumna Fredelliza Campos on her work with the Zooarchaeology Laboratory Members (p. 11)

b. "Initiative for an Indo-Pacific ICAZ Working Group" initiated by Laboratory Head and UPSA Faculty Member Dr. Juan C. Rofes (p. 8)

See the newsletter athttps://alexandriaarchive.org/icaz/icaz_website_formembers/pdf/icaz-newsletter-26-2.pdf

Institute for Southeast Asian Archaeology - ISEAA
Southeast Asian Archaeology
Kapisanan ng mga Arkeologist sa Pilipinas, Inc.
UP Diliman

07/07/2026

Congratulations to our dear zooarchers, Chin and Quincy, who marched last July 3rd, 2026, in the UP School of Archaeology graduation in recognition of their hard work and accomplished Master's degrees! 🎓🎉

Chin completed her Master of Science in Archaeology degree in the 2nd Term, A.Y. 2025-2026 while Quincy completed her MS in Archaeology degree this 3rd term. They both presented fantastic research in their respective thesis defenses in the past months and this event was a culmination of all of their efforts. 👏🏽🦴

Best wishes in all your future endeavours, Chin and Quincy! 🫶🏽 The UPSA Zooarch Lab is so proud of you. We are cheering you on and you are always welcome here. ♥️ Padayon! 🌻