Rusty Lean Beltran HISTORY 2201

BA History 3 Dr. George Emmanuel Borrinaga, PhD

“ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND WRITTEN SOURCES ON THE

PRE-16TH CENTURY PHILIPPINES”

I. (3) key artifacts of Archaeological finds in the Philippines

A. Ambahan-Tobacco Bamboo container

As I gathered these materials, the ambahan poetry became the way of expression or feeling
of the Mangyans dating back before the Spaniards arrive. The indigenous people of Mindoro or
the Mangyans were originally one of the 7 to 8 tribes living in the island of Mindoro.

The original function of ambahan poetry was to express or share their daily life to each
other and write it in container made from bamboos abundant in the area. The original significance
and representation of the ambahan came with a question of should it be in relation to urukay—an
8 syllabic or octasyllabic rhyme poem unlike the heptasyllabic script of ambahan?

The initial answer was No. However, later studies shows the difference of syllabic scripts
was not as much influence to its original inscription but the use of special characters written in the
inscription itself.

It challenged the way ambahan was used, written and orally/verbally spoken by the
indigenous people of Mindoro. Other scripts like the buhid is also different from the Hanunuo-
Mangyan script in ambahan poetry which the buhid script categorized from Northern and Southern
with distinct generation of scripts closely due to geographical proximity (Catapang, 2014).

Catapang, Emerenciana L. (2014) REVIVING THE HANUNUO AND BUHID MANGYAN SYLLABIC
SCRIPTS OF THE PHILIPPINES. Executive Director, Mangyan Heritage Center, Inc. Calapan City, Oriental
Mindoro, Philippines

Postma, A. (1995). THE AMBAHAN: A MANGYAN POEM OF MINDORO. Philippine Quarterly of

Culture and Society, 23(1), 44–61.
B. Calatagan Ritual pot

The observations that I gathered in these sources made me curious to what it should had
been a cultural representation of understand the Calatagan ritual pot is about. The argument was
to examine the Calatagan burials and earthenware vessels in different contextual purposes.

Archaeologists suggests techniques and methods of earthenware vessels as way beyond its
purpose and cultural representation while historians and anthropologists or other scholars
perceives to differentiate the way it was presented by looking to its linear timeline in rewriting the
precolonial period.

In another manner, efforts from previous scholars paved way to understand the meanings
of the pot with various translations in the written inscriptions of Calatagan pot. This method
ensures for literary and academic purposes rather than posing it as a cultural material object only.
The use of museums in any other avenue of learning is another considerable factor to notice by
researchers in keeping the artifacts intact to its preservation measures.

These written sources may vary upon the background of researcher such as; cultural,
historical, regional, academic, economic, socio-political or practical etc.

BARRETTO-TESORO, G. (2013). The Meanings of Objects Calatagan and Archaeological Research in the
Philippines. Philippine Studies: Historical & Ethnographic Viewpoints, 61(3), 263–296.

Borrinaga, Rolando O, PhD (2010). The Calatagan Pot: A National Treasure with Bisayan Inscription.
Philippine National Historical Society’s 31st National Conference on Local and National History, Family Country
Hotel and Convention Center, General Santos City
C. “Death Shroud” Banton Island Burial Cloth

This artifact impose on the sources given that it was used for secondary burial purposes
known to be panagkutkutan which was the body of the dead were exhumed and transferred into
coffins. The “death shroud” of Banton Island was not an exemption in ritual practices of
Philippine-ethnic groups in inter-island difference.

Studies presumes the burial cloth to be ikat-dyed usually seen in Cordillera region and
Ifugao but also extends to Southern portion of Philippine archipelago. Researchers believes its
dying practice of burial clothes or textiles used for rituals of ethnic beliefs. This cultural practice
in precolonial period is important to notice in successful tradition of textile-weaving of various
provinces.

Cultural practices such as panagkutkutan, making poems like ambahan, ritual ceremonies
given by the babaylans was the embodiment of cultural representation of each ethnolinguistic
groups in the Philippines. This perhaps could entail the fact of rich appreciation of pre16th century
Philippines by passing it on to the future generations.

Gina V. Mapalad1, Orfelina I. Manzo1/2, Mae Stella A. Fornal 3, and Borromeo B. Motin 4, (2021),The
Cracking Tradition: Heritage Tourism Potentials of Banton Island and the Challenges Inherent to Indigenous Practices
and External Forces, RSU Research Journal 3(1):1-7

Roces, Marian Pastor (2021), Warp Ikat breadth and depth, Mapping Philippine Material Culture, Philippine
Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/our-collections/ethnology/textiles-and-weaving/