Ancient Mariners of the Philippines

Author(s): Jesus T. Peralta

Source: Archaeology, Vol. 33, No. 5 (September/October 1980), pp. 41-48
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41726497
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 Ancient Mariners
of the Philippines
by JESUS T. PERALTA
was touched off four years ago with the dis-
A was frenzy touched
coveryofofoftheboth
earliesttheknown
off earliest
Chineselegal
ceram-four and years known illegal ago Chinese with excavation the dis-
ics in the Philippines. Dating to about the tenth
century after Christ, these finds have attracted un-
desirable competition for the Philippine archaeol-
ogists seeking to shed light on their nation's ob-
scure ancient maritime past. Pothunters looking
for immediate economic rewards have concentrated
their efforts nears Butuan City on the northeastern
coast of the island of Mindanao. Archaeologists
have followed quickly to protect and preserve what-
ever possible. In the search for lucrative Chinese
imports, pothunters uncovered a cache of another
kind, which will write an unknown chapter in the
ancient history of the Philippines.
Folk historians have lotig proposed seafaring

Reconstruction of a balanghai, the

type of boat used to travel throughout
Southeast Asia. The first archaeolo-
gical evidence for this boat and its
date have been discovered by Philip-
pine archaeologists nearButuan City
where three related boats were un-
covered and conserved.

September/ October 1980 41

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origins for this Southeast Asian archipelago, but it
is only now that such popular conceptions are be-
ginning to be backed by solid archaeological evi-
dence. Neolithic stone artifacts excavated through-
out the Philippines suggest that these tools were
transported throughout the area by means of
waterways. Markedly similar earthenware of un-
doubtedly common origin, dating to the first cen-
turies before and after Christ, has also been un-
covered on numerous inlands in the central Philip-
pines, strongly indicating the existence of an an-
cient maritime trade network. This is verified by
recent pétrographie analysis of potsherds showing
that either the pottery itself, or else the clay, was
transported from one island to another. In addition,
actual maritime trade records dating to as early as
the thirteenth century also have been found. Chao-
Ju-Kua's work, "Reports on the South Sea Barbar-
ians," completed in 1225 gives a detailed account of
maritime activities in the Philippines during these
times. Another Chinese chronicler, Wang Ta-
Yuan, writing in 1349, made similar reports.
Even the early peopling of the Philippines came
by way of seaborn expeditions from the mainland of
Southeast Asia, according to folk historians. Le-
gends tell how entire communities migrated at one
time in large ocean-going vessels called balanghai.
Each balanghai community supposedly retained
42 Archaeology
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A modern boat »tili in use in the Sulu
Seas is built along the same lines as
the balangfaai. Called lepa-lepa,
these are used as houseboats by the
sea-gypsies, the Bac^jao.
the characeter of its original organization and lead-
ejrship even when transplanted on land. In certain
parts of the central islands of the archipelago, the
term balanghai is still used in reference to a village.
But exactly what these earliest boats looked like, no
one has been able to say with any confidence - no
one, that is, since the first Portuguese and Spanish
explorers arrived from the West. Antonio Pigaffeta,
the Portuguese navigator who came with Ferdin-
and Magellan to the Philippines in the tropical
summer of 1521, mentioned the existence of large
Philippine sailing and rowing ships in his chronicle
of the Portuguese fleet's globe-circling voyage. The
Francisco Ignacio Alcina manuscript of 1668, an
index of life in the archipelago for the Spanish
crown, is one of the most important documents in
Philippine history, and also included detailed de-
scriptions of the construction and appearance of the
balanghai. But no ancient balanghai had ever been
uncovered to bear testimony to the nation's sea-
faring past.
In an ironic twist, it was the pothunters seeking
buried treasure who stumbled over the missing
link - a partially intact balanghai. The discovery of
Yüeh wares, glazed ceramics from southern China
and Vietnam, had drawn a number of archaeolo-
gists to the bog-like terrain around Butuan City.
The pothunters were not far behind. One site west
of the city that attracted their attention had re- plied the seas between the islands of Southeast Asia.
cently yielded seven huge coffins filled with porce- The Alcina manuscript suggested in detail how
lain, gold and other ornaments as well as skeletal these boats might look. About 15 meters long and 4
remains. Digging an exploratory trench six meters meters wide, these wooden plank boats were propel-
west of this site, the pothunters came upon several led either by a sail on a collapsible tripod mast or by
wooden planks located 120 centimeters beneath the up to 6 rows of paddlers. Under favorable conditions
surface and, in fact, beneath the water level. Believ-the paddlers were positioned along the length of
ing they were on to something, the robbers broke each side of the semicircular hull, but when neces-
through the planks and progressively widened sary, additional rowers could take up positions on
their trench. But after getting little more than gray twin platforms - each supporting four paddlers -
mud for their efforts, the pothunters disappointedly mounted on outriggers on either side of the hull.
left this strange configuration of wooden planks The balanghai, the Alcina manuscript revealed,
and went on to look for more rewarding sites. The were constructed of long planks joined edge to edge
Manila-based National Museum of the Philippines with wooden pegs and caulked with fibers and re-
got word of this seemingly unprofitable discovery sin. Raised rectangular lugs were positioned at reg-
and dispatched an archaeological team to the site. ular intervals along the length of these planks. The
Controlled excavation revealed that the water- boat is held together, aside from the edge to edge
logged planks were none other than the sought-after pegging of the planks, by these lugs. Diagonal holes
find - the ancient balanghai-like boat that had are oncedrilled along the upper edge of the lugs, and

September/October 1980 43

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 cordage is pushed through these as a means of "sew- indicate that the Agusan River slowly swung to the
ing/' thus reinforcing the hull together from east from a location that at some unknown time was
within. This was done by lashing a ribbing of strips close to Ambangan, the name given to this bal-
of pliant wood through the diagonal holes in the anghai site. Until the recent completion of its flood
lugs to provide a form of flexible bulkhead. control system, the poorly-drained Butuan region
was plagued by periodic flooding from the Agusan
during the rainy season.
.^^11 of these construction details were only so Another complication in dating the boat was the
many words until the Butuan plahks were uncov- fact that the pothunters commandeered a tremen-
ered in their muddy trench. When the National dous quantity of artifactual material from the
Museum crew arrived, only one end of the boat, trench site- ceramic sherds, a huge amount of
which appears to be the prow, was exposed while shells, bones, pottery, metallic fragments and other
the other end remained buried under more than a materials. One of the most interesting pieces, a
meter of mud and water. Careful excavation re- crucible lined with variously colored streaks of
vealed the remains of a flat keel, with two planks on fused silica, was later recovered and recognized as
the west side and one on the east side. Just as the an implement for purifying gold. But this and all
Alcina manuscript had suggested, the planks were the other pieces became archaeologically useless
fastened to each other by pegs, and these, in turn, once they had been taken out of context. Fortu-
were counter-pegged through each plank to keep nately, more systematic work by the National
thetn from slipping out when the hull was under Museum archaeologists revealed the existence of a
stress. The information in the Alcina manuscript thick layer of midden above the boat. Largely made
was matched to the letter - at regular intervals up of shells, the layer varied in depth from about 60
along the inner side of the planks were the all- centimeters below the surface to about 60 centi-
important raised rectangular lugs. Some of the meters above the remains of the boat, and ranged in
holes drilled through these lugs still contained thickness from 5 to 60 centimeters.
strands of cordage made from the fiber of the cabo Although the previously recovered artifacts
negro palm (. Arenga pinnata). In every feature, the probably came from this midden layer, the area
hull remnants seemed to come directly from the directly around the boat was bereft of associated
seventeenth-century manuscript. materials. But the midden layer did provide some
But was this connection purely physical? Or was suggestion of the balanghaťs age. None of the
this then an actual seventeenth-century balanghai sherds of glazed Chinese tradeware bore any trace
or did it stem from an even earlier period? The of cobalt blue undercoating - a diagnostic trait of
location of the site itself provided scant clues. Chinese ceramics in the Philippines dating to the
Located about six kilometers to the south of the late twelfth century. Instead, these Yüeh-type
coastline, the boat remains were a kilometer from ceramic sherds suggested a period dating to about
the nearest waterway, a small tributary of the Agu- the tenth century after Christ. Yüeh wares are rela-
san River. Draining from the mountain ranges of tively new on the Philippine archaeological scene.
the island of Mindanao into a broad delta, the Some specimens conform to the classic Yüeh types;
northward-flowing Agusan is itself about 12 kilom- others that appeared in the Butuan City sites in
eters to the east of the site. But studies of the delta association with Yüeh wares, but could not be

44 Archaeology

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 Drawing of the remains of the
balanghai found nearButuan
City. The longest piece is the
flat keel and the rectangular
lugs are shown on each of the
planks.

identified definitely as Yůeh wares, have been de- meters east of the boat and approximately at the
signated "Yüeh-type" wares, since similarities are same depth, suggested a fourteenth-to-fifteenth-
noticeable. The Yüeh wares that appeared in century date, not the tenth century or earlier.
Butuan City are of two types. The first group has a Further excavation showed that the midden layer
buff-colored body and is low-fired, chalky, soft and faded out two meters east of the boat, at a point
powdery. These wares are impressed and probably short of the coffins. Soil stratigraphy indicated that
heavily incised with elaborate designs. The tops the boat lay beside an ancient stream bank that in
time was silted over by continual flooding. The mid-
and sides of the everted lips of the vessels are flat-
tened. Glazes come in dull olive and ochre. The den was deposited from a settlement built on stilts
second group is more highly-fired ceramic ranging at the former stream's edge; the place where the
from whitish buff, light gray and brownish-orange. coffins were inhumed would have been on the bank
It includes a wide spectrum of glazes: light beyond the reach of the water. It thus became quite
greenish-blue wash similar to Shing-pai glazes; clear that the coffin complex stemmed from a much
transparent greenish-gray; matte grayish; thin later date than the stilt settlement. With this con-
light olive; and thick rather dull olive glaze. The flict resolved, the Ambangan boat could still confi-
base and foot are left unglazed. dently be dated to before the tenth century.
The pothunters had created a major problem. In
the course of uncovering the boat they obliterated
more obvious indications of whether the boat origi- In 1977, another boat was found about a kilometer
nally intruded through the midden or whether the southwest of the first site. This was closely followed
midden was deposited over the boat at a later time. by still another craft discovered only a few meters to
Historical documents and archaeological evidence the southeast. The second balanghai boat measured
show that boat burials were common in the earlier about 14 meters in length and, like the first, was
centuries in Southeast Asia, and they have been oriented in a north-south direction. It also had the
reported until recent times, for example, at the same characteristic edge-pegging, raised rectangu-
Niah Cave in Kalimantan, Borneo. It was possible lar lugs, and other essential balanghai features: the
that the midden layer containing the Yüeh ware flexible bulkhead, the collapsible mast, and the
sherds was an earlier deposit, with a later boat counter-pegging of the planking pegs. Somewhat
interment intruding through this layer. This would more intact than the first balanghai, it had eight
have made it difficult to read the time sequence planks adjoining its flat keel - three on the west
since the midden layer above the position of the and five on the east. The base of a spar found amid-
boat had largely been destroyed. Fortunately, how-ship suggested a collapsible mast; a carved bulk-
ever, controlled excavations of the unearthed end of head-like piece of lumber was still lashed with cabo
the boat solved the riddle - the shell midden layer negro cordage through the holes in the rectangular
existed in an undisturbed state above one end of the lugs on the planks. One noteworthy artifact, a yel-
boat. There was no longer any doubt that this low glass bead, was found in the mud beneath the
balanghai dated to at least as early as the tenth hull. Glass first appeared in Philippine archaeolog-
century after Christ. ical contexts during the Metal Age ranging from
Yet this date was paradoxical. Associated mate- about 300 b.c. in Ralawan; this bead is character-
rials from the wooden coffins, which lay only six istic of types that appeared during the first millen-

September/October 1980 45

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 Three balanghai were discovered in the same area nearButuan City . The bow end of this boat protrudes above the water level (upper
right,) while the rest is still submerged . A crew of technicians was called in to preserve the water-logged wood, including (from left)
Orlando Abinion, Chief Chemist; Rey Santiago, archaeologist ; and Pearly Ancheta, technician, all of the National Museum .

(Left) The discovery of this balanghai has firmly placed boat travel in the Philippines to some time before the tenth century after
Christ Archaeologists work to save this wooden artifact. (Right) The second balanghai is uncovered by Philippine archaeologists ; to
rescue these important datable wooden planks, the water had to be pumped out of the trench and parts had to be carefully conserved
with chemical treatment.

46 ARCHAEOLOGY

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Preliminary treatment of the remains of the balanghai found at Butuan City.
nium after Christ. The remnants of a third boat -
only three planks - suggest a much smaller vessel,
but work has been suspended at this site and no
firm date has been established for the remains.
The most startling discovery came when the
wooden remains of the first two balanghai were
subjected to radiocarbon or Carbon- 14 testing.
Wood samples from both boats and the overlying
midden layer from the first boat site were sent to
the Gakushuin University in Tokyo, Japan. The
wood from the first balanghai site was found to date
to about a.D. 320, or 1630 plus or minus 110 years.
Not even the most optimistic members of the team
had presumed that this ancient balanghai might
have been 1,600 years old! The second boat was also
quite old, dated to 700, plus or minus 90 years or a
calendar date of a.D. 1250. The shell midden layer
from the first boat site dates to a later time. With
these dates in mind, the chronological relationships
of the archaeological features and artifactual mate-
rials became clearer. The Yůeh ware sherds, which
are of approximately tenth century vintage, were
obviously deposited in the midden among shells
and other artifactual materials. The midden itself
was deposited between a.D. 13 10 and 1740 (640 plus
or minus 110 years, and 210 plus or minus 90
years). The indicated plus or minus errors on the
calculation of the ages are the years corresponding
to the standard deviation (one sigma) of beta rays
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counting statistical errors. The calculation of ages
is based on the half life of Carbon- 14 which is 5,570
years.
The recovery of these three boats has presented
some special difficulties. All of them were at least
partially below the water level and required con-
tinuous pumping to keep their trenches from filling
up. The trench walls also were collapsing con-
stantly and had to be shored up with retaining
walls. Keeping the water-logged wood from rotting
also required some special measures. Shortly after
its discovery, the first boat was raised from its
wateiy matrix and placed on a platform where it
had to be kept moist until emergency preservation
procedures could be developed on the spot, since the
correct conservation techniques required had not
yet been developed in the Philippines at that time.
Then, while the first balanghai was in "wet dock,"
the second two boats were discovered. Eventually, a
polyethlene glycol (PEG) method of preservation
for the particular conditions and requirements of
these water-logged boats was developed. Chemists
and conservators from the chemistry and physics
laboratory of the National Museum applied this
technique to the valuable Philippine boat finds.
Balanghai II, the second boat and the more intact
find, was completely preserved with the PEG
method and was shipped to Manila for eventual
exhibition. Balanghai I has remained in Butuan
September/October 1980 47
 The site of the first balanghai, an early type of boat used by Southeast Asian maritime cultures y is now covered with water. An
in situ museum allows visitors to see this important site in Ambangan, Liberated, Butuan City.

City in Mindanao where it is now housed in a uni- Similar types of boats have been reported else-
que in situ museum which allows visitors to see just where in Southeast Asia. The Konjo-speaking boat
exactly how and where it was unearthed. builders of South Sulawesi in Indonesia, for in-
These boats are a testament not only to Philip- stance, still use almost the same technology for
pine history but also to a daring way of life that making their vessels. Each time they lash and peg
endures in many corners of Southeast Asia. In scat- together a new boat, each time they bravely set out
tered parts of the southern Philippines, fishermen to sea, these people are participating in a tradition
still test the seas in plank boats much like those that links ancient Southeast Asian maritime cul-
discovered near Butuan. In the Sulu seas between tures. The Philippine people lie somewhere in be-
Borneo and the Philippines, the Badjao sea-gypsiestween these modern sea-faring groups and the un-
sail between the islands in smaller balanghai-like broken sequence of the ancient boat cultures they
boats called lepa-lepa . represent.

For Further Reading on Philippine archaeology Island of Thieves - Ethnological Sleuthing (University
and history: Miguel Bernad, SJ* "A Booming Inter- of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 1975), a review of histori-
Island Trade," Filipino Heritage 3 (Felta Books, Lah- cal documents covering Asia and the Pacific, espe-
ing Filipino Publishing Co. 1977), a discussion of cially Chapter 7 on the Philippines with a descrip-
maritime cOinmerce among the various islands of tion of boats used during the sixteenth century;
the Philippines prior to the arrival of the Spanish in Cesar Adib Majul, "Celestial Traders in Sulu,"
1521; S.V. Epistola, 'The Day the Chinese Came to Filipino Heritage 3 (Felta Books, lathing Filipino Pub-
Trade," Filipino Heritage 3 (Felta Books, lulling lishing Co. 1977), describes the conduct of trade be-
Filipino Publishing Co. 1977), describes trade rela- tween Chinese and Filipinos in southwestern Philip-
tions between Southeast A&ia and China with a sug- pines during the fourteenth century; Munoz Text of
gestion of économie invasion during the T'ang and Alcina9 s History of the Bisayan Island ( 1668) part 1,
Sung dynasties; R.J. Frost, "Sha Tsui, High Island," book 3 (Phillipine Studies Program, Department of
part 19 Journal of the Hong Kòng Archaeological Society Anthropology, University of Chicago, translated by
5 ( 1974), describes the site of a Sung dynasty junk Paul S. Lietz), different aspects of Philippine life in
which contained pottery that sank near the village the seventeenth century, especially Chapter 7 on the
of Síta Tsui in Hong Kong; William A. Lessa, Drake9 s construction and classification of boats.

48 Archaeology

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