Philippine Artifacts Essay

The Manunggul Jar is evidence of the spirituality of indigenous Filipinos.The Manunggul thrill is cultural treasure found in the early 1960s in Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Point, Palawan which is classified as a secondary burial jar, which means that only the b mavens of the corpse be placed inside. It has an elaborate design consisting of scrolls and curves on the top cover and is painted with hematite a type of mineral that produces red coloring once subjected to heat. However, the most remarkable part of the jar is its palpebra which features two souls sailing to the afterworld in a death boat.The figure at the rear is holding a steering paddle, although the blade of the paddle is missing. The one in front is believed to be the soul of the person whose go ons are inside the jar, since it has its arms folded across its chest which was the usual position of a corpse existence prepared for burial. It also seems like the figures are wearing cloth bands tied over the crowns of their heads, more evidence of indigenous burial practices in the Philippines. The burial jar which is unrivaled in southeastern Asia and considered as the work of a master potter, signifies the belief of early Filipinos in life after death. It is dated to the late neolithic Period, about 890-710 B.C.Laguna Copperplate InscriptionThe Laguna Copperplate Inscription is the oldest written document ever found in the Philippines, and one of very hardly a(prenominal) available artifacts of precolonial times. harmonise to the inscription on the plate, it was written during the Saka era 822 (which translates to April 21, 900 CE). Portions of the inscription are in Malay, Javanese, and Tagalog, as well as Sanskrit, which is non part of the Southeast Asian linguistic group.The copperplate is directly in the posession of the National Museum of the Philippines.InscriptionThe copperplate was a document from a chief of Tundun saying that he has pardoned a person named Namwaran of a debt of 1 kati a nd 8 suwarna (926.4 grams) of gold.The text has been translated as followsLong Live Year of Siyaka 822, month of Waisaka, according to astronomy. The fourth day of the waning moon, Monday. On this occasion, Lady Angkatan, and her brother whose name is Buka, the children of the Honourable Namwaran, were awarded a document of complete pardon from the Commander in brain of Tundun, represented by the Lord take care of Pailah, Jayadewa. By this order, through the scribe, the Honourable Namwaran has been forgiven of all and is released from his debts and arrears of 1 kat and 8 suwarna before the Honourable Lord parson of Puliran, Ka Sumuran by the authority of the Lord Minister of Pailah.Because of his faithful service as a subject of the Chief, the Honourable and widely renowned Lord Minister of Binwangan recognized all the living relatives of Namwaran who were claimed by the Chief of Dewata, represented by the Chief of Medang. Yes, therefore the living descendants of the Honourable N amwaran are forgiven, indeed, of any and all debts of the Honourable Namwaran to the Chief of Dewata. This, in any case, shall offer to whomever henceforth that on some future day should there be a man who claims that no release from the debt of the HonourableMaitum Anthropomorphic PotteriesIn 1991, archeologists ascertained anthropomorphic secondary burial jars in Ayub Cave, Piol. Maitum, Sarangani Province, in Mindanao, Philippines. Since this sensational finding, a number of archaeological excavations were conducted to recover these important artifacts. These excavation projectswere either regime or privately sponsored.These burial jars are do of earthenware and characterized by their design and form that emotional states like or suggests human figures with complete or partial nervus facialis signs. These are earthenware potteries with incisions and cut-out foot-rings. These humanlike forms were associated with metal implements like bracelets. Some jars are decorated with g lass beads and shell scoop, spoon, and pendants. Among the anthropomorphic vessels are plain non-anthropomorphic burial jars.According to scientists, these secondary burial jars date back to the Metal Age. The artifacts were dated to 830 +/-60 B.P. (by a calibrated date of A.D. 70 to 370) and 1920 +/- 50 B.P. (by a calibrated date of 5 B.C. to 225 A.D.). Scientists determined the age of the jars by doing radiocarbon date tests on the soot samples taken from a small earthenware vessel. This small vessel was found inside one of the larger burial jar.Angono PetroglyphsThe Angono Petroglyphs are 127 images carved into a wall of rock, and are estimated to date back to 3,000 BC. They were discovered in 1965 by Carlos Botong Francisco along the boundaries of Angono and Binangonan, Rizal. It is considered thye earliest prehistorical rock drawings. The site is a rock shelter or a shallow cave about 63 meters wide, 8 meters deep and 5 meters at its highest point.One hundred twenty seven huma n figures scattered on the wall were made by engraving lines using a piece of gem on the surface of the rock shelter. The cuts vary from ten centimeters down to faint lines figures. The figures consist of circular heads, with or without necks set on a rectangular or v- shape body. The linear arms and legs are usually flexed. Some incisions on the rock wall are triangles, rectangles and circles. Rock art is closely linked with a scheme of belief of a particular group of people. It is symbolic, not decorative.According to Filipino anthropologist Jesus Peralta, The engraved drawings are made without any reference to a baseline, suggesting that these were made during different points in time through a long period. In 1996, the petroglyphs were included in the World Monuments Watch, drawing attention to the rock arts conservation. Since their discovery, many of the carvings have been eroded, or destroyed by vandalism.Butuan PalaeographThe Butuan Palaeograph, also known as the Butuan Si lver Strip is a piece of metal with inscriptions found in Butuan province in mid-1970s by a team of archaeologists from the National Museum. Treasure hunters who were looking for old ceramics and gold ornaments discovered this metal strip inside a wooden coffin. Coffins of the same characteristics, which dated back to the 14th and 15th centuries, were found in the site, however, according to Dr. Jesus Peralta, found inside were human fossils with artificially alter skulls a practice limited to Southern Philippines and unpopular in Luzon.Because of the similarities found between the coffins, it is reasonable for the archaeologists to assume that the latter came from that same era. But debates arose regarding the origin of the verbalize artifact, save until now, it is considered to belong to Butuan where it was found. Dr. Boechari of Indonesia, said Peralta, identified the writings as very close to a Javanese script that existed from 12th to 15th century. This yet-to-be-decipher B utuan palaeograph is now in the hands of Proceso Gonzales, the city engineer of Butuan.Calatagan PotThe Calatagan Pot, excavated by treasure hunters in 1961, is considered to be the early pre-Spanish colonization artifact with traces of indigenous writing. Discovered at Calatagan, Batangas, the scripts are oriented in a left-to-right manner around the mouth of the pot which are separated by marks of five or seven symbols. Studies conducted in the Calatagan Pot arrived at a belief that its scripts is a form of Tanaga a four-versed poetry with no rhyme or a Mangyan Ambahan a type of cantillate poetry of seven syllables.The Butuan Ivory SealShown on the right is an ivory seal from Butuan. The upper representation is how a wax impression from the tool would look like. The lower view shows the face of the ivory seal except that it has been flipped (mirror image) to show the writing in its correct orientation. The combination of the positive impression and the negative but flipped vi ew gives a better idea of what the writing looks like than either one alone.The ivory seals provenance is unknown to me. Antoon Postma reports that it was shown to him by Dr. ideal Bautista in 1990 at a conference in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He says that the seal was in Bautistas custody but does not know whether it belonged to the National Museum or not. The writing is stylized Kavi, each letter being fitted into an oblong box so that it appears distorted. Postma states that the script is similar to that on the inscription of Puh Serang near Kediri dated 1002. He further indicates that the writing says Butban, which presumably stands for Butwan or Butuan since band w are frequently interchangeable. If this is correct, the three symbols need to transliterate as bu, t-ba, and n. Although I am not very familiar with this specific variation of the script, I find it hard to see the medial form of u in the first symbol and the t-baligature in the second symbol.Balangay.The Balangay is the first wooden watercraft ever excavated in Southeast Asia. Also known as the Butuan boat, this artifact is an evidence of early Philippinecraftsmanship and their early attempts to imagine in open waters.The balangay boats were discovered in the late 1970s in Butuan City, Agusan del Norte by archaeologists from the National Museum. There were actually nine balangays recovered in the province. The first balangay, now preserved and displayed in a site museum in Libertad, Butuan City, was radiocarbon tested and was dated at year 320. The second boat was dated to 1250, and is now located at the Maritime Hall of the National Museum in Manila. The third balangay was transferred to the Butuan Regional Museum and is still undergoing preservation. The six other boats, which are yet to be excavated, remain in their original waterlogged condition which is proven to be the best way to preserve the said artifacts.Bronze Socketed Adzes and MouldsSocketed adzes made from bronzy are characteristic of the Early Metal Age. Bronze socketed adzes were found in Batu Puti and Uyaw Caves in Palawan Sanga-Sanga in Tawi-Tawi and Batangas. These tools were dated from 300 B.C. to 500 B.C. Clay molds for casting these bronze adzes recovered in the caves indicate that the people during that time reused damaged bronze implements for making socketed adzes.The present implement known as wasay (axe) in central Philippines could have come from the bronze socketed adze of the Early Metal Age.Stone and Shell AdzesPrehistoric man used ground and dainty stone tools. It is believed that a stone adze shaped like an upper front incisor could be found where lightning hit a tree. Today, these stone implements are associated with thunder and lightning. Locally they are called ngipet duldug (thunder tooth), tango han linti (lightning tooth), and dila latik (light-ning tongue).The polished stone adzes that are oval in cross-section were made and used by the people during the Early Neolithic period. Grou nd stone tools typical of the quadrangular Adze Culture on the other hand, were found in a late Neolithic jar burial site. They are believed to be used for woodworking. These are small, ground and polished adzes of fine grained stones which are rectangular or trapezoidal in cross-section.The stone adzes were found in Arku Cave, in Penablanca, Cagayan Duyung Cave in Palawan Dimolit, Isabela and Candaba, Pampanga.