Cultural achievements of pre-colonial Philippines

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The cultural achievements of pre-colonial Philippines include those covered by the prehistory and the early history (900–1521) of the Philippines archipelago's inhabitants, the indigenous forebears of today's Filipino people.

Agriculture

The Banaue rice terraces are part of the rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras—ancient sprawling man-made structures, 2000 to 6000 years old—which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Early people of what is now the Philippines were skilled agriculturists. A report during the time of Governor Miguel López de Legazpi noted the great abundance of rice, fowl, and wine, as well as great numbers of carabaos, deer, wild boar, and goats in Luzon. In addition, there were also large quantities of cotton and colored clothes, wax, honey, and date palms produced by the native peoples.

In the Visayas—according to another early report—rice, cotton, swine, fowl, wax and honey were plentiful. Leyte was said to produce two rice crops a year, and the historian Pedro Chirino commented on the great rice and cotton harvests that were sufficient to feed and clothe the people.

Duck husbandry was also practiced by the natives, particularly those around Pateros and Taguig City. The practice resembled the Chinese methods of artificial incubation of eggs and the knowledge of every phase of a duck's life. This is still practiced today.^[1]

The Ifugaos of the region of the cordilleras built irrigation systems, dams, hydraulic works, and the famous Banaue rice terraces as part of their agriculture around 1000 BC.^[1]

Martial arts and weaponry

Metal casting, artillery, and other metal works have been traditions throughout the ancient Philippines. The smith, or panday piray, of Pampanga was skilled at making weapons, and many individuals with the surnames Viray and Piray are said to be descendants of members of the guild of smiths, who followed the tradition of the panday pira.^[1]

Ancient peoples used small arquebuses, or portable cannons made of bronze. Larger cannons, on the other hand, were made of iron and, resembling culverins, provided heavier firepower. The iron cannon at Rajah Sulaiman III's house was about 17 feet long, and it was made from clay and wax molds.^[1]

Guns were also locally manufactured and used by the natives. Among these native guns was the lantaka, or swivel gun, which allowed the gunner to quickly track a moving target.^[1] Some of the weaponry used by the natives was considered less conventional. For instance, one weapon was the prototype of the modern-day yo-yo, returning to its owner after being flung at an opponent.

Swords were also part of the native weaponry. Making of swords involved elaborate rituals that were based mainly on the auspicious conjunctions of planets. The passage of the sword from the maker entailed a ceremony that was coupled with spiritual beliefs of the makers.^[1] The lowlanders of Luzon no longer use the bararao, while the Moros and animists of the South still continue the tradition of making kampilan and kris.^[1]

In addition to weaponry, ancient peoples made armor for use in the battlefield and built reinforced fortresses called kota or moog to protect their communities. The Moros, in particular, had armor that covered the entire body from the top of the head to the toes. The Igorots built forts made of stone walls that averaged several meters in width and about two to three times the width in height around 2000 BC.^[1][2]

Education and writing

Laguna Copperplate Inscription (c. 900), a thin copperplate document measuring less than 8x12 inches in size, shows heavy Hindu-Malayan cultural influences present in the Philippines during the 10th Century.

Prehistoric people devised and used their own system of writings from 300 BC, which derived from the Brahmic family of scripts of Ancient India. Baybayin became the most widespread of these derived scripts by the 11th century.

Early chroniclers, who came during the first Spanish expeditions to the islands noted the proficiency of some of the natives, especially the chieftain and local kings, in Sanskrit, Old Javanese, Old Malay, and several other languages.^[3][4][5]

Maritime culture and aquaculture

Native boats and outriggers as depicted in The history and conquest of the Philippines and our other island possessions; embracing our war with the Filipinos by Alden March, published in 1899. Caption (cropped out) read: "Boats of the upper type were used to land the U.S. troops at Manila. One of those in which the Astor Battery landed sank in the surf just before reaching shore. The natives carried the men ashore on their shoulders. The lower boat is a fisherman's craft used by the Negritos, who shoot fish in the clear water with bows and arrows."

Ancient peoples of the Philippines, being descendants of the balangay-borne Austronesian migrants from Maritime Southeast Asia,^[6] were known for their navigational skills. Some of them used compasses similar to those used among maritime communities of Borneo and traders of China, although most had no need for such devices. In modern times, some fishermen and traders in the Visayas, Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan are still able to navigate long distances over open water without the use of modern navigational instruments.^[1] Philippine ships, such as the karakao or korkoa were of excellent quality and some of them were used by the Spaniards in expeditions against rebellious tribes and Dutch and British forces. Some of the larger rowed vessels held up to a hundred rowers on each side besides a contingent of armed troops.^[4] Generally, the larger vessels held at least one lantaka at the front of the vessel or another one placed at the stern.^[1] Philippine sailing ships called praos had double sails that seemed to rise well over a hundred feet from the surface of the water. Despite their large size, these ships had double outriggers. Some of the larger sailing ships, however, did not have outriggers.

Communities of the ancient Philippines were active in international trade, and they used the ocean as natural highways.^[4] Ancient peoples were engaged in long-range trading with their Asian neighbors as far as west as Maldives and as far as north as Japan.^[1] Some historians proposed that they also had regular contacts with the people of Western Micronesia due to it being the only area in the Oceania that had rice crops, tuba (fermented coconut sap), and a tradition of betel nut chewing when the first Europeans arrived there. The uncanny resemblance of complex body tattoos among the Visayans and those of Borneo also suggest some connection between Borneo and ancient Philippines.^[1] Magellan's chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta, mentioned that merchants and ambassadors from all surrounding areas came to pay tribute to the king of Sugbu (Cebu) for the purpose of trade. While Magellan's crew were with the king, a representative from Siam was paying tribute to the king.^[1] Miguel López de Legazpi also wrote how merchants from Luzon and Mindoro had come to Cebu for trade, and he also mentioned how Chinese merchants regularly came to Luzon for the same purpose.^[1] People from the region enjoyed extensive trade contacts and immigration with other cultures, such as Indians, Arabs, Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Thais, Malaysians, and Indonesians.^[7][8]

Aside from trade relations, the natives were also involved in aquaculture and fishing. The natives made use of the salambao, which is a type of raft that utilizes a large fishing net which is lowered into the water via a type of lever made of two criss-crossed poles. Night fishing was accomplished with the help of candles made from a particular type of resin similar to the copal of Mexico. Use of safe pens for incubation and protection of small fry from predators was also observed, a method that interested the Spaniards at that time.^[1]

Mining and jewelry making

Mining in the Philippines began around 1000 BC. The early Filipinos worked in various mines containing gold, silver, copper and iron. Jewels, gold ingots, chains, calombigas and earrings were handed down from their ancestors and passed from generation to generation. Gold dagger handles, gold dishes, tooth plating, and huge gold ornaments were also used.^[1] In Laszlo Legeza's "Tantric elements in pre-Hispanic Philippines Gold Art", it is mentioned that gold jewelry of Filipino origin was found in Ancient Egypt.^[1] According to Antonio Pigafetta, the people of Mindoro were skilled in mixing gold with other metals, giving it a natural appearance that often deceived even skilled silversmiths.^[1] The natives were also known for the jewelry made of other precious stones such as carnelian, agate and pearl. Some notable examples of Filipino jewelry included necklaces, belts, armlets and rings placed around the waist.

Pottery

The ancient people of the Philippines had a rich tradition of pottery as verified by the finds at Ayub Cave in South Cotabato and other parts of the islands. Japanese texts mentioned trading expeditions to the island of Rusun (Luzon) for the highly prized Rusun and Namban jars of the area. Japanese texts were very specific about these jars being made in Luzon. The Tokiko, for example, referred to the Rusun and Namban jars as Ru-sun tsukuru or Lu-sung ch'i (in Chinese), which mean simply "made in Luzon."^[1] These Rusun jars, which had rokuru (wheel mark), were said to be more precious than gold because of their ability to act as tea canisters and enhance the fermentation process.^[1]

References

External links

• Ancient Philippine Civilization tabacofamily.com
• Austronesian migration waves and expansion in the Asia-Pacific writingthirty.blogspot.com
• Burial coffins and Grave furnitures cebu-online.com
• Pre-historic Neolithic Iron Age Culture cebu-online.com
• "The Philippines: Then and Now". Archived from the original on 6 December 2006.
• "Timeline of the history of the Philippines: A Victoria student project". New Zealand: Victoria University of Wellington. Archived from the original on 11 April 2014.