A History of Science and Technology Part 2

* BCE- before common era, corresponds to before christ

CE- common era, corresponds to Anno Domini
MYA- Million years ago

Ancient Period con’t

C. The Americas
The Americas exhibit a tremendous range of cultures and physical environment. The first
Native Americans arrived in teh New World much later than humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) had
evolved and spread elsewhere in the worls. They most likely arrived in 3 waves, between 20,000
and 10,000 BCE. These 3 waves are:

1. Amerindians- First to arrive from Northeast Asia and are belived to be the ancestor of
numerous Native Americans
2. From Central Asia- descendants whom are now located in Western Canada
3. From Northeast Asia- modern descendants are the Inuit Eskimo of North Canada and Alaska

The most widely accepted theory as to how they reached the New World is thorugh a land bridge
that once connected Northeast Asia and Alaska. This bridge is called Beringia and is believed to
once stretch through what is now known as the Bering Strait. Although covered with glaciers,
mosr of these migrants travelled by foot and some by small boats along the Pacific Coast into
what is now North and Central America. Between 11,000 and 8900 BCE they lived as hunter-
gatherers in a period known as Paleoindian Period.

During the Paleoindian Period, the earliest Native American cultures hunted both large and small
game. They used large, deeply notched leaf shaped spearheads called “Clovis points” to hunt
megafauna. As the climate became drier ans warmer however, the large fauna started to die out
so they switched to hunting smaller game. The smaller Folsom points eventually replaced the
Clovis spearheads.

However, climate change brought warmer and drier climates. With it, the demise of the Clovis
and Folsom culture. Once fertile grasslands were turned into deserts in American Southwest and
northern Mexico. This paved the way to what is now called as the Archaic Period. Instead of
hunting large game, people relied more on gathering wild plants. Their tools were mostly for
collecting and processing plant foods like rice grass and cactus. They comtinued to hunt animals
but mostly small ones using snares and small traps. The small and temporary campsites they left
behind suggest that they lived in small, mobile groups that separated later on. Out of this
separation resulted cultural and language diversification.

The third period is the agricultural revolution of the Americas. Archaeological evidences suggest
that it began as early as 5500 BCE in Mexico where chile and pumpkin were planted. Maize was
gradually grown and domesticated between 4000 and 2500 BCE. Eventually, farming practices
spread throughMexico, Central America, coastal plain of Peru and South America by 1500 BCE.
Farmers started living in small villages, in units called pit houses.Eventually, planting of corn,
beans, squash and chile resulted in productivity that paved the way for the great civilizations of
Mexico, Central America and South America: The Mesoamerican Civilizations (Olmecs, Maya,
Teotihuacan, Aztecs)

Evidences of Pre-historic Life in Pampanga: Candaba Swamps

Also known as Pinac, the Candaba Swamp is one of the oldest settlements in Central Luzon. At
present, the swamp is used all year round. From January to May, it is mostly used for rice and
watermelon planting. From June to December, when rainy season would flood the area, fishing
becomes a major activity. The swamps is also one of the most famous wetland for migratory birds
and a well-known bird watching area.

The Candaba Swamp emerged suring the end of the Pliocene Epoch (5.3 to 2.6 MYA)
through the accumulation of sediments from Angat and Pampanga Rivers. It is believed to have
been formed as part of the lateral planation of Pampanga River with the help of Angat River.
Candaba is considered as one of the oldest settlements in Luzon. In the 1930s, the noted H. Otley
Beyer recovered an adze made of basalt. He called it Candaba Neolithic Adze and is now
considered a National Cultural Treasure. Dated around 3000 BC, he theorized that this was used
to cut down trees and shape and carve boats. If thye are already making boats around this
period, this must mean that they are also doing some fishing in the deeper parts of the swamp.
In 2002, a group conducting birdwatching discovered an archaeological site in a place called
Donya Simang. The area yielded various aartifacts especially earthenware, trade ceramics,
metals and other ecofacs that can be dated and analyzed.
Most of the artifacts found are indigenous undecorated earthenware. Dr Wilhelm Solheim
however, identified some with incised and combed carved designs as examples of Beyer’s Iron
Age Pottery dating between 1000 to 1500 AD. The designs suggest that there were used for
special ritual performances.
The site also contained numerous oriental trade ceramics from China dating back to 1300-
1600 AD. Stonewares from CEntral Vietnam and Thailand were also recovered. This suggests that
when China banned the export of its ceramics in the earlly Ming dynasty, Vietnam and Thailand
filled the void.
Recovery of iron slags and the richness of the native vocabulary for various types of metals
suggest that metal craft technology was already present even before the Spaniards came. Metal
implements were most probably important in surviving in teh swamps, for hunting and even for
warfare. They also found evidences of animal domestication by finding bones of pigs, deers, rice
field rats, goats, ducks, dogs chickens and other birds.
Based on early Spanish writings, the famous ruler in Candaba was Dionisio Kapolong, a son
of Rajah Lacandula of Tondo. He is believed to have travelled regularly to the north via the
Pampanga River to trade. He traded goods from Pampanga and Manila with Chinese and
Southeast Asian ceramics. Ceramics and beads are important as status symbol, for dowry and
heirloom pieces. Archaeological evidences also suggest that our ancestors in Candaba used
ceramics as part of burial practice of giving grave gifts. These along with animal bones suggest
that our ancestors bury their dead with material things as gifts to the gods in the afterlife and to
ward off evil spirits that might devour the remains of an individual.

Excerpt from The Utilization of Candaba Swamp form Prehistoric to Present time: Evidences from
Archaeology, History and Ethnography by Rhayan Melendres, University of the Philippines, 2014.