Pre-History

Sources

1. Pre-History (Lecture Slides)

Pre-History

Theories about Our Origins

Octley Beyer’s Wave Migration Theory

Dr. Beyer claims that the Filipino ancestors came to the country through land bridges—which was present when sea level was low—and later through sea vessels known as Balanghai. For this reason, he distinguished the ancestors as arriving in different waves of migration.

Groups that Migrated to the Philippines according to this Theory

1. Dawn Man (250,000 years ago)
2. Negritos (25,000-30,000 years ago)
3. Sea-faring and tool-using Indonesian group (5,000-6,000 years ago)

• These were the first immigrants to reach Philippines by sea.

1. Seafaring Malays

• Introduced the Iron Age culture.
• The dominant cultural group during the Pre-Hispanic era.

Peter Bellwood’s Austronesian Diffusion Theory

According to Bellwood, around 4500 BCE and 4000 BCE, the development of agricultural technology in the Yunnan Plateau drove some people to migrate to Taiwan. By around 3000 BCE, these groups broke down into three to four groups. One of the groups migrated southwards towards Philippines and Indonesia.

The groups already had or were developing a language now known as Proto-Austronesian.

Tabon Caves

In 1962, Dr. Robert Fox and his team discovered the Tabon Caves in Quezon, Palawan. They also discovered skull cap fossils of the Tabon man, dating to 22,000 years ago.

Artifacts found at the cave revealed or indicated that

• Ancient Filipinos were hunters of some kind (as evidence by fossils of animals).
• The tools were made during the Old Stone Age.

Callao Right Metatarsal III

Researchers discovered fossils of ancient Filipinos that were estimated to be 67,000 years old in Peñablanca, Cagayan Valley.

Historical Artifacts and Culture

• Manunggul Jar
  • A burial jar recovered at the Chamber A of the Manunggul Cave in Palawan.
  • Its design indicate that the past Filipinos believed that dead souls sail to the afterworld on a death boat.
  • It was declared a national treasure and its portrait is on the 1000 peso bill.
• Maitum Antrhomorphic Potteries
  • These burial jars were found at Pino, Maitum, Saranggani, dating back to the Metal Age.
• Paleolithic Stone tools
• The Laguna Copperplate
  • Discovered in 1989, this copperplate is the earliest known Philippine document.
  • In 1990, Antoon Postma translated its contents and noticed that it was similar to the Indonesian script known as Kavi.
• Balanghai Boat from Butuan
  • The Balanghai Boat (or butuan boat) is the first wooden watercraft found in Southeast Asia.
  • When the Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, they found that Filipinos lived in a civilization and villages known as Barangays—a term derived from balanghai, another term which referred to the Austronesian word for “sailboat”.
• Barangay
  • Refers to a community consisting of 50 to 100 families (100 to 500 citizens).
  • The term originates from the word referring to boat because it was believed that pre-colonial settlers arrived to the Philippines using a boat.
  • By the 9th century, a highly developed society have already been established. It was typically found that this society consisted of 3 classes:
    • Maginoo or the ruling class
    • Timawa or freemen
    • Alipin or the servants
      • Aliping namamahay: They served their master in their own field.
      • Aliping Saguiguilid: They lived near their master’s house.
• Tagalog Baybayin
  • The Filipino Alphabet