SEAArch - The Southeast Asian Archaeology Newsblog » Philippines

Prehistoric remains uncovered in Bohol

noelbynature — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:34:11 +0000

Prehistoric remains and earthenware have been discovered in a cave in Bohol province in Central Philippines, although it looks as if treasure hunters may already have gotten there first!

Prehistoric relics unearthed at Loay cavern, officials say
The Bohol Standard, 05 February 2012

Prehistoric artifacts, including a human skull and earthen wares, have been dug up at Sukgang Cavern, barangay Tayong of this town, by archeologists of Philippine National Museum, which, if after carbon dating process could prove that Bohol island was once inhabited by ancient people during or even before Christ’s time.

Municipal councilor Hermes Entero of this historical town bared this during an exclusive interview yesterday at his residence of Bool, Tagbilaran City. His revelation is corroborated by curator Charlemeine Titangco, officer-in-charge of National Museum Bohol branch in this city.

Philippine National Museum (PNM) archeologist Ame Garong also confirmed the ancient finds but the relics were now at the Manila National Museum for more study. She said in her e-mail reply to this writer that the NM would soon conduct a full-blown archeological digging at the site to determine the richness of the cavern, which is just a few meters across the national highway near the border of Lila town.

Full story here.

Caution raised over vintage bombs found in the Philippines

noelbynature — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:59:40 +0000

The Philippine Army Central Command has refused requests from members of the public to preserve some unexploded ordnance found in Kawit Island, citing safety reasons. I’m noting a record here because it might be useful for the future studies in the archaeology of World War II!

The unwillingness of the military to display the bombs, as well as their preference to destroy them for safety reasons is interesting, contrasted with the display of similar UXO at the My Son Sanctuary that I saw last month.

Preserving bombs ‘dangerous’
Sun Star Cebu, 31 January 2012

Vintage bombs probably used as ‘booby trap’: archaeologist
Sun Star Cebu, 1 February 2012

Requests to preserve and display some of the vintage bombs discovered at the Kawit Island of the South Road Properties (SRP) were rejected by the Central Command (CentCom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The bombs are too dangerous and should be detonated, military officials said.

Aside from the Fort San Pedro museum, war veterans in Cebu City and the Toledo City Government want to take custody of some of the bombs and preserve them, said Philip Zafra, the chief of staff of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama.

Zafra met with officials of CentCom, the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) team of the Cebu City Police Office and the Cebu City Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council yesterday morning to discuss the matter.

He said that during their meeting, CentCom officials expressed a “strong opposition” to the request to preserve the bombs.

Full story here.

Confirming Ibaloi history through archaeology

noelbynature — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:00:51 +0000

A Philippine archaeologist suggests that archaeology has the potential to confirm events in Ibaloi oral history. One such event includes the Spanish massacre of an Ibaloi village in the 18th century.

Knowing original Ibaloi settlements thru gold trading
The Inquirer, 17 January 2012

There was a village in Ibaloi lore called “Tonglo” where the trading of gold was said to be brisk and thriving. An account by Michael Armand Canilao in his book, “Of Gold, Spanish Conquistadors and Ibaloi Generational Memory” (Cordillera Studies Center, University of the Philippines-Baguio, 2011), has it that a Spanish punitive expedition in 1759 razed this village, killing hundreds of Ibaloi who fought the invaders.

This event, Canilao writes, had come to be known as the “Tonglo Massacre.”

But apart from a general direction of the place given by Spanish friar named Vivar in 1755 as “four leguas (24 km) east of Cava (La Union),” no one exactly knows where Tonglo is, only that it is vaguely recalled in Ibaloi oral traditions.

The event’s discussion is regarded as “taboo … to mask the absence or lack of credible evidence that such a massacre really took place,” says Canilao.

The evidence could be surfaced through archaeology, suggests Canilao, a senior lecturer in the archaeological studies program and Center for International Studies of the University of the Philippines-Diliman. “Perhaps [it] can offer a breakthrough in confirming if this massacre indeed took place or not,” he says.

Full story here.

Literary treasures from the archives of the University of Santos Thomas

noelbynature — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:38:11 +0000

Rare manuscripts and Philippines’ literary history held in the University of Santo Tomas’ archives were highlighted in a recent history conference.

Examples of documents with Babayin scripts from the UST Archives, The Inquirer 20120116

UST collection of ancient scripts in ‘baybayin’ syllabary shown to public
The Inquirer, 16 January 2012

The University Of Santo Tomas (UST) has the biggest collection of extant ancient baybayin scripts in the world, according to Christopher Miller, a Canadian linguistics scholar who has been studying the ancient Philippine syllabary at the UST Archives and UST Heritage Library.

Miller was a plenary speaker during the International Conference on the Heritage and History of the University of Santo Tomas recently.

Miller credited the Spanish colonizers, especially the Catholic missionary friars, for preserving the ancient Filipino alphabet and said UST’s large collection of documents using the syllabary should disclose to historians and researchers glimpses of Philippine prehistory at the time of the Spanish contact.

Full story here.

Ifugao Field School, summer 2012

noelbynature — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:53:31 +0000

The University of Guam, in collaboration with the National Museum of the Philippines, University of the Philippines, and the Ifugao State University will be conducting a field school at the World Heritage-listed Ifugao rice terraces in summer 2012. Applications close Feb 28, 2012

photo credit: Stefan Munder

2012 University of Guam Archaeological Field School
Kiangan, Ifugao, Philippines
Summer 2012

The University of Guam Archaeological Field School in Kiangan, Ifugao introduces students to the multidisciplinary nature of landscape archaeology research, while also offering insights on relationships between human communities and their environment. The research program has eight goals: 1) to involve anthropology undergraduates from a wide range of host institution types, genders, and ethnicities; 2) introduce students to the multidisciplinary nature of landscape archaeology; 3) provide field research engagement and opportunities to students in the American Pacific; 4) provide hypothesis-driven undergraduate projects with guidance from faculty mentors and international collaborators; 5) encourage students to pursue graduate studies in Anthropological Archaeology; 6) provide students necessary training to work in historic preservation; 7) establish an ongoing research program where students will be able to collaborate with students and professors outside of UOG, and develop scientific-writing skills; and, provide a meaningful field experience to undergraduate participants by directly working with Ifugao descendant communities.

Full details here.

Protests over treasure hunters seeking Yamashita's gold

noelbynature — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:18:43 +0000

Protests at the town of Mauban in Quezon, Philippines have forced the government to order the shutdown of a private excavation seeking the fabled WWII Yamashita’s Treasure.

Woes in hunt for Yamashita’s gold
The Straits Times, 27 September 2011
Subscription required

Yamashita treasure hunt halted
Philippine Inquirer, 14 September 2011

Excerpt from the article from the Straits Times:

For decades, treasure hunters have been searching the Philippines for a vast trove of war loot believed to have been hidden in caves and secret tunnels by Japanese troops before their surrender in World War II.

Fact or fanciful legend, Yamashita’s gold – named after the Japanese general who led a desperate last stand in the Philippines – still casts an unbreakable spell.

So residents in the hilly coastal town of Mauban, long rumoured to contain a trove of Yamashita’s gold, were not surprised when treasure hunters arrived in February to excavate a plot of private land.

This month, scores of angry locals marched to Mauban’s municipal hall demanding the digging be stopped. The Sept 14 protest highlighted how the obsessive search for long-ago treasure has caused modern-day problems.

Unlike many digs and wreck dives for Yamashita’s gold, this one was legal. Cabanisas Credit Corp, the Manila-based company doing the excavations, had a government permit to hunt for treasure.

Full story here.

Excavation of Spanish-period stone houses ends

noelbynature — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:18:52 +0000

The excavation of Spanish-period stone houses in the Batangas province of Philippines concluded this year, and an exhibition will be displayed at the University of the Philippines-Diliman next month. You can read the San Juan Archaeological Project blog here.

Stone ruins in San Juan, Batangas, Philippine Inquirer 20110821

Spanish-era stone houses see the light of day once more
Philippine Daily Inquirer, 21 August 2011

To conclude its three-year archaeological excavation of Spanish-era stone house ruins in San Juan, Batangas, the University of the Philippines-Diliman Archaeological Studies Program (UP-ASP) conducted a rigorous archaeological excavation of the second of two Spanish-era stone house ruins located in Barangay Pinagbayanan in San Juan, Batangas.

From the name â€œPinagbayanan,â€ which means â€œwhere the former town once stood,â€ Barangay Pinagbayanan was the former town proper of San Juan, Batangas in 1848, when San Juan was first recognized as a separate municipality in Batangas.

Full story from the Philippine Inquirer.

New museum on the Intramuros of Manila

noelbynature — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:00:07 +0000

The museum of the Manila’s walled city, Intramuros, scheduled to open next year will hold US$35 million worth of antiques and artifacts. The museum will feature displays dating back to the 17th century.

photo credit: yeheii

Intramuros museum to house P1.5b artifacts
Manila Standard Today, 20 August 2011

When it opens its doors in 2012, the Museo de Intramuros will house assorted antiques and artifacts worth an estimated P1.5 billion.

Intramuros Administration head Jose Capistrano said the agency will start the construction as soon as the terms of reference for the project is completed.

The Museo de Intramuros, to be built on the site of the ruins of San Ignacio Church on Anda corner Sta. Lucia Streets, will be patterned after the church.

Over 7,000 antique pieces, mostly ecclesiastical collections like images, altars, liturgical vessels and vestments, church bells and furniture, and other accessories, which date back to as early as the 17th century.

Full story here.

400-year-old church declared a cultural treasure in the Philippines

noelbynature — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:00:17 +0000

A 397-year-old church in Pampanga province, Philippines is declared a National Cultural Treasure.

397-year-old church to be named national cultural treasure
Philstar.com, 09 August 2011

Another church in this province will be officially declared a national cultural treasure (NCT).

Local officials are preparing the festivities for Aug. 27, when the 397-year-old Sta. Monica parish church will be declared NCT by the National Museum, for its preserved unique centuries-old features.

It would be the second NCT in Pampanga, after the St. James church in Betis, Guagua.

Architect Owen Francis Canlas, chair of the Commission on Cultural Heritage, Restoration and Conservation (CCHRC) said the National Museum decided to make Sta. Monica Church a NCT because its faÃ§ade features a unique giant retablo or altar influenced by Christian, Buddhist, Hinduist and animistic cultures.

The Angono Petroglyphs

noelbynature — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:23:39 +0000

This travel piece from the Philippine Inquirer goes to Angono, in Rizal province, in search of the Angono Petroglyphs – one of the few known rock art sites in the Philippines.

The Angono Petroglyphs, Philippine Inquirer 20110807

In search of Angonoâ€™s art treasures
Philippine Inquirer, 07 August 2011

Surprisingly, the rock art is one-of-a-kind in the country. It was discovered by the late National Artist and Angono resident Carlos â€œBotongâ€ Francisco in 1965 during a Boy Scout field trip. It was told that this area was also used as shelter by Filipino guerilla fighters during World War II.

The 120-plus pictograms depict animated figures, two of which look like turtles, pregnant geckos or, as the guide said, pregnant women. He also explained many of them resembled rituals of some sort. Of course, no one really knows what they represent, since there are no other related artifacts nearby that could help decipher its true message.

The site is significant since it holds part of our history that predates the birth of Christ. In 1985, the petroglyphs were included in the World Inventory of Rock Art under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), International Council of Museums (ICom), International Council of Monuments and Sites (Icomos), and International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCRom), under the Standard Rock Art Files (RAS), with other world famous prehistoric rock art.

Full story here.