Activity 2 – Primary Source Analysis Tool
Name:
Date:
Name of Instructor:
Class Schedule:
SET A. Observe – Reflect- Questions
Analyze the following pre-Hispanic Philippine sources using the guide questions provided
below.
LAGUNA COPPERPLATE INSCRIPTION, c. 900 AD
(1) Hail! In the Saka-year 822; the month of
March-April; according to the astronomer: the
fourth day of the dark half of the moon; on (2)
Monday. At that time, Lady Angkatan together with
her relative, Bukah by name, (3) the child of His
Honor Namwran, was given, as a special favor, a
document of full acquittal, by the Chief and
Commander2 of Tundun (4) representing the
Leader of Pailah, Jayade~a.~ This means that His
Honor Namwran, through the Honorable Scribe4
(5) was totally cleared of a salary-related5 debt of
1 kati and 8 suwarna (weight of gold): in the
presence of His Honor the Leader of Puliran, (6)
Kasumuran; His Honor the Leader of Pailah,
representing Ganasakti; (and) His Honor the
Leader (7) of Binwangan, representing Bisruta.
And, with his whole family, on orders of the Chief
of Dewata (a), representing the Chief of Mdang,
because of his loyalty as a subject (slave?)' of the
Chief, therefore all the descendants (9) of his
Honor Namwran have been cleared of the whole
debt that His Honor owed the Chief of Dewata.
This (document) is (issued) in case (10) there is
someone, whosoever, sometime in the future, who
will state that the debt is not yet acquitted of His
Honor. . .
CODE OF KALANTIAW, c. 1433
Article I - Ye shall not kill, neither shall ye steal nor shall ye hurt the aged, lest
ye incur the danger of death. All those who this order shall infringe shall be tied
to a stone and drowned in a river or in boiling water.
Article II - Ye shall punctually meet your debt with your headman. He who
fulfills not, for the first time shall be lashed a hundredfold, and If the obligation
is great, his hand shall be dipped threefold in boiling water. On conviction, he
shall be flogged to death.
Article II- Obey ye: no one shall have wives that are too young, nor shall they
be more than what he can take care of, nor spend much luxury. He who fulfils
not, obeys not, shall be condemned to swim three hours and, for the second
time, shall be scourged with spines to death.
Article IV - Observe and obey ye: Let not the peace of the graves be
disturbed; due respect must be accorded them on passing by caves and trees
where they are. He who observes not shall die by bites of ants or shall be
flogged with spines till death.
Article V - Obey ye: Exchange in food must be carried out faithfully. He who
complies not shall be lashed for an hour. He who repeats the act shall, for a
day be exposed to the ants.
Article VI - Ye shall revere respectable places, trees of known value, and
other sites. He shall pay a month's work, in gold or money, whoever fails to do
this; and if twice committed, he shall be declared a slave.
Article VII - They shall die who kill trees of venerable aspect; who at night
shoot with arrows the aged men and the women; he who enters the house of
the headman without permission; he who kills a fish or shark or striped
crocodile. Article VIII - They shall be slaves for a given time who steal away
the women of the headmen; he who possesses dogs that bite the headmen; he
who burns another man's sown field.
Article IX - They shall be slaves for a given time, who sing in their night
errands, kill manual birds, tear documents belonging to the headmen; who are
evil-minded liars; who play with the dead.
Article X - It shall be the obligation of every mother to show her daughter
secretly the things that are lacivious and prepare them for womanhood; men
shall not be cruel to their wives, nor should they punish them when they catch
them in the act of adultery. He who disobeys shall be torn to pieces and thrown
to the caymans.
Article XI - They shall be burned, who by force or cunning have mocked at
and eluded punishment, or who have killed two young boys, or shall try to steal
the women of the old men (agurangs).
Article XII - They shall be drowned, all slaves who assault their superiors or
their lords and masters; all those who abuse their luxury; those who kill their
anitos by breaking them or throwing them away.
Article XIII - They shall be exposed to the ants for half a day, who kill a black
cat during the new moon or steal things belonging to the headmen.
Article XIV - They shall be slaves for life, who having beautiful daughters shall
deny them to the sons of the headman or shall hide them in bad faith.
Article XV - Concerning their beliefs and superstitions: they shall be scourged,
who eat bad meat of respected insects or herbs that are supposed to be good;
who hurt or kill the young manual bird and the white monkey.

OBSERVE
(What do you notice first?)
What do you notice that you
did not expect? What do you
notice that you can’t explain?
What do you notice that you
didn’t earlier?
FURTHER INVESTIGATION (What more do you want to know, and how can you find out?)
Article XVI - Their fingers shall be cut off, who break wooden or clay idols in
their olangangs and places of oblation; he who breaks Tagalan's daggers for
hog killing, or breaks drinking vases.
Article XVII - They shall be killed, who profane places where sacred objects of
their diwatas or headmen are buried. He who gives way to the call of nature at
such places shall be burned.
Article XVIII - Those who do not cause these rules to be observed, if they are
headmen, shall be stoned and crushed to death, and if they are old men, shall
be placed in rivers to be eaten by sharks and crocodiles.
REFLECT QUESTIONS
(Where do you think this came from? Why do you (What do you wonder about…
think somebody made this? What do you think
was happening when this was made? Who do you
think was the audience for this item> What tool Who? What? When? Where?
was used to create this? Why do you think this Why? How?
item is so important? If somebody made this
today, what would be different? What can you
learn from examining this?
 I want to know more about their culture especially on how they survive every day living
peacefully in the isolated area, and I want to study their script writings, just the particular one. In order
to find these things out, there are some libraries available within the city that I could read the books
about them and another way is to find them in the Internet and do some research.

SET B. CITATION PRACTICE

Write the correct citation of the following:

1. Title: Knossos Mythology – History Guide to the Archaeological Site

Author: Antonis Vassilakis
Publisher: Adam Editions
City Published: Athens
Editor: Costas Adam
Date Published: 2002

2. Title: The Laguna Copper-Plate Inscription: Text and Commentary

Author: Antoon Postma
Associated Institution: Ateneo de Manila University
Publisher: Philippine Studies
City Published: Quezon City
Volume: 40, no. 2; pp-183-203
Date Published: 1992
URL: http://www.philippinestudies.net

3. Title: Quezon’s Game Director: Matthew Rosen

Performers: Raymond Bagatsing, Rachel Alejandro, David Bianco, Kate Alejandrino
Production Companies: ABS-CBN Film Productions; Kinitek
Distributed by: Star Cinema
Release Date: 29 May 2019

SET C. SHORT-ESSAY REVIEW

Give reasons why is it important to know the origin and purpose of every sources used in a historical
inquiry.