THE PHILIPPINES IN ANCIENT TIME(200,000 B.C.-

1300 A.D)

Prepared by:

Yasmin G. Vergara BSN3A

Evidences both material and non material demonstrate that the ancient Filipinos were a productive and creative people. They produced their own unique technology and culture that were appropriate to their given natural environment, climate, and geography.Hence filipino were already a civilized people long before the encounter with the west.

• THIS 60.99-MILLIMETER HUMAN METATARSAL BONE WAS FOUND IN 2007 AT CALLAO CAVE IN THE NORTHERN PHILIPPINES. THE ANCIENT FOOT BONE WAS DETERMINED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 67,000 YEARS OLD.

Site of human evolution between 200,000 and 30,000 years ago.

One theory says that during the Ice age,the waters around what is now the Philippines fell about 47.5 meters below its level.Because of this,large areas of land came to the surface and formed “land bridges” to mainland Asia.

It is said that during this period that the first settlers, a small group of hominid, came to the Philippines.

Earliest stone tools and animal fossils found in Cagayan Valley in Northern Philippines dated back 200,000 years ago.

Collectively they were called homo erectus philippinensis-had similar characteristics as the Java man of Indonesia and Peking man of China.

• A PIECE OF CHARCOAL WHICH DATED BACK TO 30,000 YEARS WAS ALSO FOUND WHICH MAY INDICATE THE FIRST USE OF FIRE IN THE ARCHIPELAGO

1962-a skull cap of man was discovered in the Tabon caves Palawan. Archeologist learned that man had been in the Philippines for at least 22,000 years.The cave where the Tabon Man was found was dated back to half a million years old and had been occupied for more or less 50,000 years.

Prehistoric people hunted animals such as the pygmy elephant and rhinoceros.In some languages including tagalog,the word elephant is gadya. This shows that once upon a time there were elephants in the Philippines, filipinos lived in caves,gathered food from immediate environment.

CHIEF AND HIS FAMILY

25,000-30,000 years ago,another kind of settlers,the ancestors of the Negritos (Aeta,Ati,Dumagat) came to the Philippines by crossing “land bridges”, and by way of Palawan and Borneo.

Another Negrito migration occurred a little later by way of sulu and Mindanao.These immigrants used blow gun,bow and arrow.

They practice agriculture similar to Kaingin system. Their tools were made of stone,clothing made of bark of trees and houses made of leaves and branches of trees.

More that 7,000 years ago, long after the ice that covered the world melted, the resulting rise in the sea level ushered in the arrival of another group of people, the Austronesians.They came to southeast asia by boats from southern China. They had brown skin(kayumanggi) and an early stone age culture.

Much later some of them came to the Philippines from IndoChina and south China also by boats.

They built theirs houses with pyramidal roofs.

They practiced dry agriculture and produces yams,rice and gabe.

Their clothing consisted of pounded bark of trees with various printed designs.

500-800 BC the early Filipinos knew how to make a copper and bronze implements.

They irrigate their rice lands and built the first rice teraces.

Another migration allegedly occurred about 300/200 B.C./more than 2000 yrs ago.

This Austronesian continued up to the beginning of the Christian era in the 13th century.

They had a syllabary or alphabet that might have come from India.

These Austronesians were the ancestors of the settlers that traded with ancient China and early southeast Asian communities.They would later lay the foundation of Islam in Sulu and Mindanao.

ECONOMIC LIFE

The ancient Filipino practiced agriculture, which was the main source of sustenance.

Land cultivation was done in 2 ways: Kaingin system-land was cleared by

burning shrubs and bushes,the cleared land was then planted to crops.

Tillage system-land was plowed and harrowed,then followed by planting.

Aside from agriculture,Filipino’s engage in industries such as fishing,mining,shipbuilding,poultry,and livestock raising, logging, pottery,and weaving.

Textiles like sinamay were woven with threads obtained from banana and cotton plants.

The ancient Filipino’s also domesticated chickens, native ponies, carabaos, pigs, and goats.

Fishing was a common industry because most of the settlements were along river and seas.

Antonio Morga-spanish official,said that “this industry is quiet general in the entire country and is considered a natural activity for the self support of the people”.

Various methods were used,such as the use of nets, bow and arrow,lance or spear, the wicker basket, hook and line,corrals,and fish poison.

1569-Miguel Lopez de Legazpi reported to the Viceroy of Mexico that there was more or less gold,in all these islands.

He mentioned Paracale in Camarines Norte,the Ilocos, the Visayas,especialy the Cebu and along the Butuan River in Mindanao, as places where “very good gold” could be found.

Shipbuilding and logging-Morga testified that many Filipinos were “proficient in building ocean vessels.”

The skill can perhaps be explained by the abundance of thick forest that are rich in hardwoods and the fact that Philippines is surrounded by water,naturally produced good sailors.

The spaniards later classified these boats into banca,lapis,caracao,virey, prau,and vinta.

These boats carried products from Manila in Luzon and Cebu in Visayas and as far as Butuan and the rest of Mindanao.

No currency was used in trading . Goods were bought and sold through

the Barter System. Commerce extended far and wide into

nearby foreign lands such as Borneo,Malaya, Cambodia, Thailand,Sumatra and India.

SOCIAL LIFE

The ancient Filipinos are divided into 3 social class:

1.Nobles-composed of chiefs and their families,early society’s upper class.

2.Freemen-society’s middle class. 3.Dependents-society’s low class.

The dependents are classified into: Aliping namamahay-had his own house

and family.Served his master by planting,harvesting,helping in the construction of master’s house and rowing the master’s boat.

Aliping sagigilid-had no house of his own,he lived with his master and could not marry without the latter’s consent.

3 levels of dependents: Full dependent-whose parents were both

dependent One-half dependent-with one parent as

dependent Semi-dependent-with one parent being

one-half dependent and the other free.

WOMANS POSITION IN THE SOCIETY As a custom,women were the

equal of men in ancient Filipino.

Roles: Engage in trade and industry Chieftainship of her

community Right to give names to their

children(names were derived from physical features of the child.

Women are accompanied by men,usually walk behind the latter as sign of respect.

MARRIAGE CUSTOMS

In most cases,a woman of one class married into the same class.

However,there were exceptions when a man,for example, showed bravery and courage in battle,or when he had become powerful enough to lead the people of his community.

A man served the parents of the girl he loved for years.(courtship)

The man was required to give a dowry,(bigay-kaya),consisted of land or gold.

Parents of a girl-the man must give a gift called panghimuyat.

Girl’s wet-nurse-man must give a gift called bigay-suso.

Bride ang groom drink at the same cup. Old man would announce the celebration was

about to begin. A priestess would bow and would take the hands

of the couple and join them over a plate of uncooked rice.

MIXED MARRIAGES

If father was a freeman,the eldest the 3rd,5th,7th and so on belonged to father’s class.

The rest of the children belonged to the mother’s class.

If there was only one child and no. Of child is odd-(half-free and half dependent).

GOVERMENT

Barangay-basic unit of Govt. ,consisted of 30-100 families.

Derived from Austronesian word balangay. Each barangay was ruled by chieftain. Subjects served the chieftain,and they

paid tribute to him called tax or buwis in Tagalog.

The chieftain was powerful and exercised the powers of executive,legislative,and judiciary.

Sometimes alliances were concluded b/w Barangays for mutual protection,an alliance was sealed through ritual called sanduguan or blood compact.

The chieftain of Brgy. Made the laws. If the elders approved the proposed

law,the chieftain ordered a town cryer, called umalohokan to announce or explained new law.

The court of justice consist of the chieftain as judge and elders as jury.

The accuser and accused faced each other with their witnesses.

As practiced in the Phil. The trial by ordeal consisted of ordering the suspects,in case of theft,to dip their hands in a pot of boiling water.

Guilty: The suspect whose hand was scladed most Holding lighted candles-whose candle died

out first. Ordering to plunge into a deep river with

lances-the one who rises to the surface first.

Ordering the suspect to chew uncooked rice-the one with the thickest saliva.

CULTURE Clothing: Male:consisted of upper and

lower parts. Upper part was a jacket with

short sleeves called kangan. Color of the jacket indicated

the rank of the wearer;chief wore a red jacket,lower rank wore black/blue.

Lower part was called bahag consisted of a cloth about the waist passing down b/w thighs.

Female: Usually naked from the waist up. Wore a saya or skirt. Visayans called it patadyong. A piece of white or red cloth called tapis usually

wrapped around the waist or chest. Ancient Filipinos had no shoes. Men usually wore a headgear called putong. The of putong showed no. Of persons the

wearer had killed. Man wearing red putong had killed at least one

man, man wearing embroided putong had killed at least 7 men.

Women as well as men wore armlets called kalumbiga, pendants,gold rings,earings,leglets,and bracelets.

Golds was common,it is also used as fillings in b/w teeth to adorn teeth.

The body was adorned by tatooing including face.

It was used as man’s war record. Spanish called the Visayans pintados or

painted people because they are the most tatooed people.

Houses: Ancient house was built of bamboo,wood

and nipa palm.This kind of house was suited to the tropical climate of the country.

House was set on stakes called haligi which were made of bamboo.

Fowls were placed inside the enclosure. To go up,one had to ascend a ladder. At night/when the owner was not

around,the ladder was drawn up. Batalan-household work was done. What is called now sala now was used not

only as an area for receiving visitors, but also as s place to sleep in.

A small room near the sala,called silid,was a place where mats, pillows, and baskets of rice were kept.

EDUCATION AND SYSTEM WRITING

There were no formal schools but children of school age were taught in their own homes by their mothers who were their first teachers.

Father Pedro Chirino(Spanish Jesuit missionary)-based on his testimony there was hardly a man or woman who did not know how to write and read.

Our ancestors possessed a system of writing or alphabet called a syllabary,baybayin or alibata where every letter is pronounced as a syllable.

The syllabary consisted of seventeen symbols,3 of which are vowels(patinig) and 14 are consonants(katinig).

The early filipinos wrote on large leaves of plants and trees, and sometimes on barks of trees and bamboo tubes.

They used the colored saps of trees as ink,while they used pointed sticks or iron as pencil.

EARLY LITERATURE Among the tagalogs ate oral literature

consisted of sabi(maxims),bugtong(riddles),talindaw(boat song),tagumpay(victory songs),uyayi and hele,(cradle song),ihiman(wedding song),kumintang(war song) and many others.

19th century the kumintang became a love song.

During the revolution,it dissapeared and was replaced by the kundiman.

The early Filipinos had also written literature.ex.Bicol epic called Handiong

MUSIC AND DANCE: Pigafetta mentioned that the

natives of Sugbu(Cebu) played such musical instruments as the timbal,the cymbal,the drum etc. Most of which were mad of bamboo and wood.

Spanish explorer Villalobos went to Samar in 1543-saw natives playing a stringed instrument called kudyapi.

Negritos favorite instruments: Kullibaw-resembled the jew’s

harp made of bamboo Bansic-sort of flute made of

bamboo. Gangsa-kind of guitar

Negritos performed potato dance,torture dance,duel dance,lovers dance.

Ilocano’s musical instruments: Kutibeng-ilocano’s guitar with 5

strings. The flute Kudyapi Ilocano’s favorite dances: Kinnallogong-hat dance Kinotton-ant dance Visayas: Balitaw(exchange of

extemporaneous love verses) Dandansoy-courtship dance

RELIGOUS BELIEFS: Prehistoric Filipino believed that the

soul was immortal. Believed in after death as evidenced

by manunggul jar, a container for bones of death.

Belived in Bathalang Maykapal or Bathala.

God of agriculture-Idiyenale God of death-Sidapa God of fire-Agni God of rainbow-Balangaw God of war-Mandarangan Goddess of harvest-Lalahon The God of hell-Siginarugan.

The soul spirits called anito were venerated.This is called the “Cult of the dead”.

The memory of dead relatives was kept alive by carving images made of gold, stone and ivory.

Image was called larawan-tagalog Diwata-Visayans Bulol-Ifugao They offered prayers to this images in order to

win their sympathy. The offerings or rituals were laid down by a

woman priest called baylana,babaylan,or katalona, and occasionally male priests.

BURIAL

When a relative died he/she placed in a coffin and buried under his/her house.The living relatives placed his or her cloth,gold and other valuables in the coffin.Filipino believed that dead relative would be gladly recieved in the other world.

Mourning for a dead cheiftain was called laraw.

Mourning for a woman was distinguish from that of a man such that former was called morotal and the latter was called maglahi.

All quarrels and even petty were stopped

Spears were carried with the tips pointing downwards.

Daggers were carried with hilts reversed Singing in boats was prohibited Wearing of loud clothes was also

prohibited.

Salamat po!