Comments on: Negritos or Malays: Who are the original inhabitants of the Philippines? http://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/2008/02/14/negritos-or-malays-who-are-the-original-inhabitants-of-the-philippines/ News, resources, books and podcasts about the archaeology and ancient history of Southeast Asia Mon, 1 Dec 2008 20:14:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Heathen Dan http://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/2008/02/14/negritos-or-malays-who-are-the-original-inhabitants-of-the-philippines/#comment-17845 Heathen Dan Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:48:42 +0000 http://www.southeastasianarchaeology.com/2008/02/14/negritos-or-malays-who-are-the-original-inhabitants-of-the-philippines/#comment-17845 That's called the "Beyer Wave" theory which posits that the Philippines was colonized by successive "waves" of immigrants from Indonesia and Malaysia. It was proposed by Henry Beyer in 1947, and has become part of grade school and high school "Sibika at Kultura" textbooks ever since. Yet this theory has been pretty much debunked in the 60s and 70s. While there are competing theories on how the Philippines was populated, I lean towards Peter Bellwood's Austronesian migration theory (referenced in the Inquirer article above, as well as in Jared Diamond's book Guns, Germs and Steel). Landa Jocano and Wilhelm Solheim are two other well respected historians of the Philippines who have come up with their own theories on how the islands got populated. That’s called the “Beyer Wave” theory which posits that the Philippines was colonized by successive “waves” of immigrants from Indonesia and Malaysia. It was proposed by Henry Beyer in 1947, and has become part of grade school and high school “Sibika at Kultura” textbooks ever since. Yet this theory has been pretty much debunked in the 60s and 70s.

While there are competing theories on how the Philippines was populated, I lean towards Peter Bellwood’s Austronesian migration theory (referenced in the Inquirer article above, as well as in Jared Diamond’s book Guns, Germs and Steel). Landa Jocano and Wilhelm Solheim are two other well respected historians of the Philippines who have come up with their own theories on how the islands got populated.

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