Republic of the Philippines

CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE

F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

College of Engineering

GEC 2 – READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY Period: 1st Semester AY 2023-2024

Subject Instructor: MARIA FE ALBAN-RAMORES Course, Yr & Block:
Learning Material: Unit 1: Context Analysis
References: BATIS Sources in Philippine History by Jose Victor Torres
Philippine History by Aimee A. Dizon et al
=================================================================================
Lesson 2.0 Understanding Sources
Outline of Topics
1. What are sources?
2. Primary Sources
3. Secondary Sources

Specific Intended Learning Outcome/s (SILOs)

At the end of this activity, the student should be able to:
1. Identify the differences between a primary and secondary source
2. Enumerate materials which can be considered primary source
3. Evaluate materials in terms of authenticity, credibility, and provenance
=================================================================================
Read the following articles and answer the given questions.

Lesson 1: What are Sources?

Gottschalk (1950) in his work, Understanding History discusses the importance of sources for the
historian’s work:
The historian, however, has to use many materials that are not in books. Where these are
archeological, epigraphical, or numismatical materials, he has to depend largely on museums. Where there
are official records, he may have to search for them in archives, courthouses, government libraries, etc.
where there are private papers not available in official collections, he may have to hunt among the papers
of business houses, the muniment rooms of ancient castles, the prized possessions of autograph collectors,
the records of parish churches, etc. having some subject in mind, with more or less definite delimitation of
the persons, areas, times, and functions (i.e., the economic, political, intellectual, diplomatic, or other
occupational aspects) involved, he looks for materials that may have some bearing upon those persons in
that area at the time they function in that fashion. These materials are his sources. The more precise his
delimitation of persons, area, time and function, the more relevant his sources are like to be. (52-53)

It is from historical sources that our history is studied and written. But in analyzing them, several
methodologies and theories were used by historians to properly study history and glean from the sources
what is, for them, a proper way of writing history to enhance and disseminate national identity.

Primary Sources

Primary sources are materials produced by people or groups directly involved in the event or topic
being studied. These people are either participants or eyewitnesses to the event. These sources range from
eyewitness accounts, diaries, letters, legal documents, official documents (government or private), and even
photographs.
Formally, there are eight (8) examples of these primary sources:
1. Photographs that may reflect social conditions of historical realities and everyday life.

GEC 2 – Readings in Philippine History Page 1 of 3

 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

College of Engineering

2. Old sketches and drawings that may indicate the conditions of life of societies in the past.
3. Old maps that may reveal how space and geography were used to emphasize trade routes,
structural build-up, etc.
4. Cartoons for political expression or propaganda.
5. Materials evidence of the prehistoric past like cave drawings, old syllabaries, and ancient
writings.
6. Statistical tables, graphs, and charts.
7. Oral history or recordings by electronic means of accounts of eyewitnesses or
participants; the recordings are then transcribed and used for research.
8. Published and unpublished primary documents, eyewitness accounts, and other written
sources.

Secondary Sources

Gottschalk simply defines secondary sources as “the testimony of anyone who is not an eyewitness-
that is of one who has not present at the event of which he tells”. These are books, articles, and scholarly
journals that had interpreted primary sources or had used them to discuss certain subjects of history.

Guide Questions:
1. What is the main distinction between primary source and secondary source?
2. Why primary source important in the study of history?
3. What is the purpose of a secondary source?
4. At present, how do you discriminate between contradicting reports of a single event from different sources?
5. Why should official records of the government be made accessible to the public?

Activity 1
Read the excerpts below then do a comparative analysis. The following readings discuss the findings on the remains of
what was then considered the earliest known human remains in the Philippines – Tabon Man.

 Robert B. Fox. The Tabon Caves: Archeological Explorations and Excavations on Palawan Island,
Philippines (Manila, 1970) p. 40

Tabon Man – During the initial excavations of Tabon Cave, June and July, 1962, the scattered fossils
bones of at least three individuals were excavated, including a large fragment of a frontal bone with the brows
and portions of the nasal bones. These fossil bones were recovered towards the rear of the cave along the left
wall. Unfortunately, the area in which the human fossil bones were discovered had been disturbed by
Magapode birds. It was not possible in 1962 to establish the association of these bones with a specific flake
assemblage. Although they were provisionally related to either Flake Assemblage II and III for only the flakes
of this assemblage have been found to date in this area of the cave. The available data would suggest that
Tabon Man may be dated from 22,000 to 24,000 years ago. But only further excavations in the cave and
chemical analysis of human and animal bones from disturbed and undisturbed levels in the cave will define the
exact age of the human fossils.
The fossil bones are those of Homo sapiens. These will from a separate study by a specialist which will
be included in the final site report for Tabon Cave. It is important, however, because of a recent publication
(scott, 1969), that a preliminary study of the fossil bones of Tabon Man shows that it is above average in skull
dimensions when compared to the modern Filiino. There is no evidence that the Tabon Man was “… a less
brainy individual….” (Scott, 1969) p36. Moreover, Scott’s study includes many misstatements about the Tabon
Caves, always the problem when writers work from “conservations”.

 William Henry Scott. Prehistoric Source Materials for the study of Philippine History (revised Edition) Quezon
City, 1984.pp14-15.

GEC 2 – Readings in Philippine History Page 2 of 3

 Republic of the Philippines
CAMARINES NORTE STATE COLLEGE
F. Pimentel Avenue, Brgy. 2, Daet, Camarines Norte – 4600, Philippines

College of Engineering

Tabon Man – The earliest human skull remains known in the Philippines are the fossilized
Fragments of a skull and jawbone of three individuals who are collectively called “ Tabon Man” after the place
where they were found on the west coast of Palawan. Tabon Cave appears to be a kind of little Stone Age
factory: both finished tools and waste cores and flakes have been found at four different levelsin the main
chamber. Charcoal left from cooking fires has been recovered from three of these assemblages and dated by C-
14 to roughly 7,000 BC , 20,000 BC with an earlier level lying so far below these that it must represent Upper
Pleistocene dates like 45 to 50 thousand years ago… Physical anthropologist who have examined the Tabon
skullcap are agreed that it belonged to modern man – that is, Homo sapiens as distinguished from those mid-
Pleistocene species nowadays called Homo erectus. Two experts have given the further opinion that the
mandible is “Australian” in physical type, and that the skullcap measurements are mostly nearly like those of
Ainus and Tasmanians. What this basically means is that Tabon Man was “pre-Mongoloid” Mongoloid being
the term anthropologist apply to the racial stock which entered Southeast Asia during the Holocene and
absorbed ealier peoples to produce the modern Malay, Indonesians, Filipino, and Pacific peoples popularly-
and unscientifically – called. “the brown race.” Tabon Man presumably belonged to one of those earlier
peoples, but, if decently clothed in flesh, T-shirts and blue jeans, might pass unnoticed in Quiapo today,
whatever his facial features are concerned, nothing can be said about the color of his skin or hair, or the shape
of his nose or eyes – except one thing: Tabon Man was not a Negrito.

Answer the following questions:

1. Which is the primary source and the secondary source between the two readings?
2. Do a credibility analysis of the sources. Who between the two authors is more credible to
talk about the topic?

Activity 2

Look for the sources used by the Philippines and China in their perspective claims of sovereignty over
the Scarborough Shoal and identify which are primary sources. Also look for the ruling of the
Permanent Court of Arbitration and explain the reason for its decision.

GEC 2 – Readings in Philippine History Page 3 of 3