8 Education

9 Media

10 Local government

10.1 Barangay and legislative districts

11 Notable people

12 International relations

12.1 Twin towns or sister cities

13 Gallery

14 See also

15 References

16 External links

Etymology

The name Cagayan de Oro (lit. River of Gold)[12] can be traced back to the arrival of the Spanish
Augustinian Recollect friars in 1622, the area around Himologan (now Huluga), was already known as
"Cagayán". Early Spanish written documents in the 16th century already referred to the place as
"Cagayán".

The region of Northern Mindanao, which included Cagayan de Oro, was granted as encomienda to a
certain Don Juan Griego on January 25, 1571. It was then former Vice President of the Philippines
Emmanuel Peláez who appended "de Oro" to Cagayan.

The name "Cagayan" is shared by other places in the Philippines; these include the province of Cagayan
in northern Luzon, the Cagayan Islands in the northern Sulu Sea, and the former Cagayan de Sulu,
currently named Mapun, an island in Tawi-Tawi.

History

Classical period

The Cagayan de Oro area was continuously inhabited by Late Neolithic to Iron Age Austronesian
cultures. The oldest human remains discovered was from the Huluga Caves, once used as a burial place
by the natives. A skullcap sent to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1977 was dated to be from
between 350 and 377 AD.
The caves have yielded numerous artifacts, but most areas have been badly damaged by guano
collectors and amateur treasure hunters. Associated with the cave is the Huluga Open Site, believed to
be the site of the primary pre-colonial settlement in the region identified as "Himologan" by the first
Spanish missionaries.[13][14][15] The site is located about eight kilometers from present-day Cagayan
de Oro.

The discovery of a grave site in 2009 uncovered remains of Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) celadon ware
and Sukhothai period (1238–1347 AD) Sangkhalok ceramic ware, in addition to body ornaments and
stone tools. It indicates that the region was part of the ancient maritime trading network of Southeast
Asia. Skulls recovered from the sites show that native Kagay-anons practiced artificial cranial
deformation since childhood as a mark of social status, similar to skulls from archeological sites in
neighboring Butuan.[16]

The Huluga Open Site was extensively damaged in 2001 to give way to a bridge project by the local
administration. It was the source of controversy when a team from the University of the Philippines-
Archaeological Studies Program dismissed the archeological importance of the site by declaring it as a
"camp-like area" and not a settlement and thus not worthy of heritage protection under the laws. It was
alleged by local conservationists that the UP-ASP team were influenced by the local government so the
bridge project could continue. The site is still not protected and continue to be quarried, despite
protests by local historians and archeologists.[15][17][18][19]