London, Aug 4 (IANS) Archaeologists have unearthed a 67,000-year-old human bone they claim proves the area was settled by man 20,000 years earlier than previously thought.

The discovery was made at the Callao caves near Penablanca, 210 miles north of Manila in Philippines.

The foot bone - found during a four-year excavation project of a network of caves - predates the 47,000-year-old Tabon Man that was previously known as the first human to have lived in the Philippines, reports the Telegraph.

"So far, this could be the earliest human fossil found in the Asia-Pacific region," Professor Armand Mijares of the University of the Philippines Diliman who led the team of archeologists told GMANews.TV.

"The presence of humans in Luzon shows these early humans already possessed knowledge of seacraft-making in this early period."

Mijares said the evidence suggested that Callao Man or his ancestors reached Luzon in the Philippine archipelago by raft at a time when experts did not think humans were capable of travelling long distances by sea.

Cut marks on bones from deer and wild boar that were found around the human remains suggest that Callao Man was an accomplished hunter, he said, although no tools were found during the dig.

Mijares said he was "shocked and elated" at the discovery, explaining that such a find was something people in his field dream of.