8/3/2019 An Iron Age in the Philippines

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An Iron Age in the Philippines

Mul sa bud ng tesis:

"This study concludes that there is no real Iron Age in the Philippines but that therewere iron-using societies in certain areas beginning ca. 370 B.C."

===An Iron Age in the Philippines

Eusebio Zamora Dizon, "An Iron Age in the Philippines? A critical examination"(January 1, 1988). Dissertations available from ProQuest. Paper AAI8816166.http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8816166

Abstract

"Based on the limited evidence of iron artifacts and the associated pottery, it hasbeen argued that a "Philippine Iron Age" began sometime between ca. 500-200 B.C.

This study employing current archaeological and anthropological methods andmetallurgical techniques analyzes the evidence for iron in the Philippines. Itaddresses whether the term "Iron Age" is viable in the Philippine context. Theappearance of iron in certain areas of the Old World is surveyed to provideinformation on how iron technology developed and was adopted elsewhere. Thepresence of an Iron Age can imply a complex social organization which assumes apolitical machinery and economic institutions that deal with the control, distributionand redistribution of resources. Technology is also a system that operates within thiscomplex whole, providing the science and technical knowledge to manipulateresources for the society. Philippine ethnographic and ethnohistorical recordsdocument that iron was supplied by Chinese traders in exchange for forest products,gold, salt, beads, etc. and that local blacksmiths processed iron for agriculture andhousehold implements. Surpluses were traded to other groups, promoting thecontinuous diffusion of iron.

"Ten iron samples from the Philippine National Museum and 75 samples from theGuthe-Michigan collection were examined metallographically. Microhardness testingwas done for qualitative and quantitative analysis. Descriptive and exploratorystatistics were used to construct a generalized typology. The Guthe collection showedvariability in morphology, metallurgical treatment and function, projecting a patternof regional variation among artifact types. The metallography suggested animprovement in iron technology over time. There are no indications of mass orstandardized production of iron implements, suggesting local production on a smallscale.

"This study concludes that there is no real Iron Age in the Philippines but that therewere iron-using societies in certain areas beginning ca. 370 B.C. Finally, the study ofiron technology constitutes a mechanism by which an improved understanding of the

socio-cultural complexity of pre- and proto-historic cultures in the Philippines andSoutheast Asia might be achieved."

===Eusebio Zamora Dizon, "An Iron Age in the Philippines? A critical examination"(January 1, 1988). Dissertations available from ProQuest. Paper AAI8816166.http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8816166

http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8816166/

http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8816166http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8816166http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8816166/http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8816166http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8816166http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI8816166/

8/3/2019 An Iron Age in the Philippines

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