Flake Tools Old Stone Age Espinosa Ranch Site, Cagayan 
Early man fashioned implements for survival from stones he found in the
riverbeds. Flake tools and cobble tools were the earliest implements he
made during the Palaeolithic (or Old Stone Age) Period. He used these
tools as knives and scrapers. |
Skull-cap Old Stone Age
Tabon Cave, Quezon Palawan
14500 BC
One of the earliest human remains in the archipelago is a fossilized
skull-cap (frontal bone) that belongs to a female estimated to be 22,000
years old. It was discovered together with a right mandible (jaw) and
teeth in Tabon Cave, Palawan by Robert Fox of The National Museum.
These fossils of modern man (Homo sapiens sapiens) were recently dated
using the new direct dating methods. The skull-cap is now dated to
16,500 years (14,500 B.C.) and the mandible to 31,000 years (29,000
B.C.). The oldest human fossil recovered by the National Museum during
the re-excavation of the Tabon Cave is a tibia (bone of the lower leg)
that dates back to 47,000 years (45,000 B.C.).
Stone and Shell Adzes New Stone Age
Cagayan, Palawan, Isabela, and Pampanga
~2680 BC
Prehistoric man used ground and polished 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 ngipe’t 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. Ground 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.
In places where stones were not available, shells were used to make
tools. Shell adzes were fashioned from hinges of giant clams (Tridacna
gigas and Tridacna maxima) and polished into different shapes. Shell
adzes found in Duyong Cave, Palawan were dated 2680 B.C. Shell tools
were also found in Balobok rock shelter, Sanga-Sanga, Tawi-Tawi; and in
Bato Cave, Sorsogon. Those recovered in Palawan and Sanga-Sanga,
Tawi-Tawi were similar to those in the Pacific specially Micronesia and
Ryukyu group of islands and in Okinawa, Southern Japan.
The use of polished stone tools persisted until the Metal Age. Stone
implements used during the Metal Age were recovered from other sites
namely Manga Site, in Andarayan and Lal-lo, Cagayan.
Shell Bracelets and Pendants New Stone Age
Cagayan, Palawan, and Sorsogon
4854 BC
In the early days, shells were fashioned into tools, as well as
ornaments. The oldest known ornaments made from cone shells were found
in the early 1960’s in the grave of an adult male in Duyong Cave in
Palawan. A shell disk with a hole in the center was found next to his
right ear and a disk with a hole by the edge was found on his chest. The
shell ornaments were dated 4854 B.C.
Other personal ornaments such as earrings, anklets, bracelets and beads
recovered from grave sites were found together with spoons, dippers and
other tools fashioned from shells. Shell beads recovered from other
sites were made from cowry, whelk, and conch shells. Shell beads were
also recovered from Arku Cave in Cagayan, Ngipe’t Duldug Cave in Palawan
and in Bato Caves, in Sorsogon; a shell bracelet was also found in Bato
Caves.
The shells of giant clams were fashioned into large spherical beads with
holes drilled end to end at the center while pendants for the ear were
ground from cone shells. Perforations were drilled at the center of the
disk. Bracelets and anklets were both made from giant clams and cone
shells. Shell bracelets made from the top shoulder of the body whorls of
cone shells (Conus litteratus) are characteristic of the Late Neolithic
Age. The natural spiral found along the shoulders of the shell serves
as a decorative motif. Shell bracelets were recovered in Duyong Cave and
Leta-Leta Cave in Palawan.
Up to the Metal Age, shells were the major material for the manufacture
of both tools and ornaments but shell technology attained its highest
development during the Neolithic Period.
At present, the people of Palawan living near Tabon Caves still fashion
bracelets from shells. The boring and polishing of the shell ornaments
is done with stone tools.
Angono Petroglyphs New Stone Age
Angono, Rizal
2000 BC
The earliest prehistoric rock drawings studied extensively were those found at the boundary of Angono and
Binangonan, Rizal Province. 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 human figures scattered on the wall were
made by engraving lines using a piece of stone 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-shaped 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 system of
belief of a particular group of people. It is symbolic, not decorative.
Rock art in the Philippines is rare. Samples of these drawings were
reported in places such as Penablanca Caves in Cagayan Valley; rock
outcroppings in Alab, Bontoc, Mt. Province; and caves in Singnapan Basin
in Ransang, Palawan.
Bark-Cloth Beater New Stone Age
Arku Cave, Peñablanca, Cagayan
1255-605 BC
It is a stone tool used for the preparation of bark cloth. Early man in Palawan fashioned the beaters from cylindrical stones and used the stone beaters for pounding the bark to loosen the pulp from the fiber. The bark cloth is ready when all the pulp has been stripped off, leaving a network of fibers. The stone tool found in Arku Cave, Penablanca, Cagayan was dated 1255-605 B.C. Another bark-cloth beater was found in Sagung cave in Southern Palawan.
Manunggul Jar New Stone Age
Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Pt., Palawan
895-775 BC
The cultural treasure found in the early 1960’s in Manunggul Cave,
Lipuun Point, Palawan is a secondary burial jar. The upper portion of
the jar, as well as the cover is incised with curvilinear scroll designs
and painted with natural iron or hematite. On top of the jar cover or
lid is a boat with two human figures representing two souls on a voyage
to the afterlife. The boatman is seated behind a figure whose hands are
crossed on the chest. The position of the hands is a traditional
Filipino practice observed when arranging the corpse.
The burial jar which is unrivaled in Southeast 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.
Gold Death-Mask Age of Contact
Oton, Iloilo
1300 - 1400 AD
Long before the coming of the Spaniards, early inhabitants used gold
ornaments for the the dead. The face of the corpse was covered with
delicately worked sheets of gold. The craftsman cut out two pieces. He
placed the first piece on a soft surface like clay or wax and with a
pointed tool, pressed the design from behind.He used a different design
for each eye. He shaped the second sheet for covering the nose.
The burial practice of covering the eyes, nose and mouth of the dead
with sheets of gold is a custom of the southern Chinese practiced by a
limited group of Filipinos. It is believed that when the face of the
dead is covered with a gold mask, evil spirits cannot enter the body.
The gold nose-disc and gold eye-mask dated from the late 14th to the
early 15th century A.D. was found in a grave site in San Antonio, Oton,
Iloilo (Central Philippines). Aside from the museum collection, another
pre-hispanic gold burial mask was also recovered in Masao, Butuan,
Agusan del Norte where gold was abundant in ancient times.
Butuan Boat Metal Age
Libertad, Butuan City
320 AD
Prehistoric boats were recovered in Butuan, Agusan del Norte in 1978.
There are nine existing prehistoric boats. The first boat dated 320 A.D.
is in the site museum in Libertad, Butuan. The second boat dated to
1250 A.D. was transferred to the Pinagmulan Gallery (The Origin), in the
2nd floor of the Museum of the Filipino People in Manila. The third
boat dated 990 A.D. is in the Butuan Regional Museum (Agusan del Norte, southern Philippines).
The Butuan boat is an edged- pegged plank type of boat. The planks were
made from hard wood like ‘doongon’ (Heriteriera littoralis). Built to
withstand long-distance voyages, the boat can seat 25 people. Early
merchants purchased goods from foreign traders and sailed the small
waterways redistributing the commodities to remote communities in the
archipelago. The presence of glass beads and metals in the sites where
the boats were discovered shows that Philippine coastal communities were
active in Asian maritime trade during that time. Evidence of a
flourishing maritime trade placed the early Filipinos’ seamanship and
boat- building skill on equal footing with other Asian countries.
The edged-pegged plank style of boat-building was once popular from
Scandinavian countries to the South Pacific during the 3rd century.
Present- day boat makers of Sibutu Island and in southern Philippines
still use the same technology.
