Abstract
The discovery of the Tasaday tribe in the southern Philippines in 1971 has been hailed as the "anthropological find of the century." Characterized as "ultraprimitive," "lost," and "Stone Age," the 26 individuals, living in caves located in a rain forest, pursued a paleolithic lifestyle surviving at the "most elemental levels of human existence." They wore only leaves for clothing and knew nothing about hunting or agriculture. They survived on berries, roots and wild bananas, as well as crabs, grubs and frogs. They did not know of a large village just a three-hour walk away, or of the ocean 20 miles away, and were even reported to regard themselves as the only people on Earth. Their language was unique, although close enough to a known language used in the vicinity to permit translation.