ANCIENT HISTORY of the

PHILIPPINES

Origin of the Philippines

1. The idea of the theologians during the Spanish era, such as:

Fr. Colin, Fr. Sta. Ines and Fr. Delgado – advancing the Theological View that Philippines is part of God’s creation.

2. Legends and Myths

3. Scientific Theories, that Philippines is: Part of the lost continent (lost pacific called as Lemuria or

Mu) Volcanic Origin (Dr. Bailey Willis, a geologist – who

maintained the theory that Philippines is a volcanic origin). Land-bridge theory

EARLY SETTLERS

Theories on Philippines History suggest: That Philippines and the rest of the

islands in Southeast Asia may have been the sites of human evolution between 200,000-300,00 years ago.

During the Ice Age “land bridges” appear that connected the Philippines to mainland Asia .

It is said that during this period the first settlers, a small group of hominid came.

-most likely they were hunters and gatherers on exploration trip.

Earliest stone tools and animal fossils found in Cagayan Valley dated back to at least 200,000 years ago.

No human fossils found yet, the artifacts suggest their existence and they were called CAGAYAN MAN or HOMO ERECTUS PHILIPPINENSIS.

1962

A skull of man was discovered in the Tabon Cave of Palawan. From this skull , archeologist learned that man had been in the Phillippines for atleast 22,000 years.

•Tabon man that was found dated back to half a million years old and had been occupied for more or less 50,000 years.

•A piece of charcoal was found, which dated back to back 30,000 years was also found which may indicate the indicate the first use of fire in the archipelago.

Prehistoric people had a primitive culture characterized by the use of stone implements.

They hunted animals such as pygamy elephant and rhinoceros.

Early filipino lived in caves. They also gathered food from their

immediate environment. They wore clothing made from materials

that they got from nature.

25,000-30,000 years ago

Another settlers arrived.

The “ancestors” of the Negritos ( Aeti, Ati, Dumagat), came to the Philippines by crossing the “land bridges”.

They were said to have come from south, by way of Palawan and Borneo.

Another Negrito migration occurred a little later by way of Sulu and Mindanao.-they used blow gun , bow and arrow.-they practiced dry agriculture similar to the KAINGIN SYSTEM.-their tools were made of stone.-their clothing consisted of bark of trees, and their houses were made of leaves and branches of trees.

7,000 years ago, long after the ice that covered the world melted, the resulting rise in the sea level ushered in the arrival of another group of people, the Austronesians.

They came to Southeast Asia by boats from Southern China.

They had brown skin(kayumanggi).

Much later, some of them came to the Philippines from Indochina and South China also by boats.

• They built their houses with pyramidical roofs.• Practiced dry agriculture and produce yams,

rice, and gabe.• Their clothing consisted of pounded bark of

trees with various printed designs.Probable descendants of this group :-Kalingas -native Visayans -Manobos-Gaddangs -Tagbanuas of Palawan-Apayaos -Bagobos-Igorots -Bilaans-Tirurays of Mindanao

500-800 B.C

The early filipinos already know how to make copper and bronze implements.

They irrigated their lands and built the first rice terraces in the Philippines.

300-200 B.C +

Another migration allegedly occured. They are more advanced. They had a syllabary or alphabet that

might have come from India. These Austronesians were the ancestors

of the settlers that traded with ancient China and early Asian community.

-they later lay the foundations of Islam in Sulu and Mindanao.

* These theories of Migration , are however, are still subject of debate. The artifacts are not enough to warrant

definite conclusions about Philippine prehistory.

ECONOMIC LIFE

Agriculture-practiced by the Ancient Filipinos.-main source of sustenance.

Land Cultivation Kaingin System – the land was

cleared by burning shrubs and bushes.

Tillage System- the land was plowed and harrowed, then followed by planting.

KAINGIN SYSTEM TILLAGE SYSTEM

Irrigation  watering system practiced by our ancestors.  they increased their crop production by

irrigating ditches. Rice Terraces in Banawe, Mountain Province

attest to this ancient practice.

Fishing

Most common industry because most of the settlements were along rivers and seas.

Antonio de Morga, a spanish official in the judiciary said that “this industry is quite general in the entire country and is considered a natural activity for the self-support of the people”.

Mining-also another important industry before the coming of Spaniards.-1569, Miguel Lopez de Legazpi reported to the Viceroy of Mexico that there was “More or less gold..in all these islands ; itb is obtained from rivers and , in some places, from mines which the native works.”-he mentioned Paracale, Cam. Norte, Ilocos,Cebu and Butuan River in Mindanao.

Shipbuilding and Logging-also thriving industries.-Morga testified that many Filipinos were

“proficient in building ocean going vessels”.

NO CURRENCY USED IN TRADING.• Barter System – system in which goods are

exchanged for goods.

SOCIAL LIFE Social Classes

Nobles – composed of the chiefs and their families.

Freemen-regarded as society’s middle class during ancient period of Philippine History.

Dependents- “alipin” among ancient Tagalog. Classified according to:

1.Aliping namamahay-had his own house and family. -served its master by planting and harvesting crops,by rowing the master’s boat. And by helping the construction of his masters house.

2.Aliping Sagigilid-had no house of his own and could not marry with out his masters consent.

Among Visayan Dependents were of 3:1. Tumataban- worked for his master when

told to do so.2. Tumarampak- who work one day a week

his master.3. Ayuey- who worked 3 days a week for his

master.

Dependents are further Classified: Full dependent- parents are both

dependent One-half dependent- with one parent as

dependent. Semi-dependent-one parent being one-

half dependent and the other is free.

*These levels are NOT PERMANENT. Anyone could move up and down a level upon payment of debt or purchase.

Women’s Position in Society

Women are equal of men in ancient society.

Enjoyed high position on society.

in most cases, woman of one class married into the same class.

a man could marry as many women as he could support.

a man is required to give a dowry, called bigay-kaya, which usually consisted of piece of land or gold.

Panghimuyat- a gift given by the man to the parents of the girl.

Bigay-suso- a gift given by the man to the wet-nurse of the girl.

Marriage Customs

MIXED MARRIAGES

Marriages between a man and a woman belonging from different social classes.

NOT COMMON.

GOVERNMENT

Barangay-basic unit of government.-consisted of 30-100 families.-derived from the word “balangay”, a boat

which transported Austronesian immigrants to the Philippines.

-independent and ruled by the CHIEFTAIN.-people paid tribute or tax to the chieftain.

Sanduguan : a ritual  where tribes would cut their wrist and pour their blood into a cup filled with liquid and drink each other's blood as part of the tribal tradition to seal a friendship, a pact or treaty, or to validate an agreement.

Chieftain-exercised the powers of executive, legislative and the judiciary.-he made the LAWS of the community with the aid of the concil of elders.

Umalohokan, town cryer, announce to the community the approval of the law.

HOW LAW WAS MADE?

Deciding Cases The court of justice are composed of the

chieftain as JUDGE and the elders as the “Jury”.

Differences are resolved by arbitration. -the accuser and the accused faced

each other with their witnesses. -they present their arguments, the man

who had more witnesses was usually judge to be the winner.

-the loser had no other alternative but to accept the chieftain’s decision.

The Trial by Ordeal

Consists of : Ordering the suspects, in the case of theft , to

dip their hands into a pot of boiling water. The suspect whose hand was scalded most was judge guilty.

Another form was holding lightened candles by the suspect. The suspect whose candle died first was the guilty party.

Ordering the suspect to chew uncooked rice. The one whose saliva was thickest was the culprit.

CULTURE

ClothingAncient Filipino Clothing

>male clothing -upper part was a jacket with short

sleeves called Kangan.

*color of the jacket indicated the rank of the wearer: chief wore RED jacket.\, while those lower rank wore black or blue.

-lower part of the clothing is called, Bahag.-Bahag is consisted of a cloth wound in the

waist,passing down between the thighs.

>female clothing -usually naked from waist up -they wore saya or skirt. -Among Visayans, lower part was called

patadyong.- Tapis, a piece of white or red

cloth,wrapped usually around the breast or waist.

Ancient Filipinos had NO SHOES.

Putong – a headgear wore by men,a piece of cloth wrapped around their head.

*the color of putong showed the number of persons the wearer had killed.

red putong- killed atleast 1. embroidered putong-had killed atleast 7.

Ornaments

Ancient Filipinos wore ornaments mde of gold and precious stones.

Kalumbiga -armlets that men and women wore. Gold - commonly used by the ancient filipinos

not only in making rings, armlets, and bracelets, but also fillings in the teeth.

Tattoo -ancient Filipinos was adorned by

tattooing including the face.-women, tattooed their arms and faces to make themselves beautiful.-men, used tattoo as a man’s war record.-Visayans, were the most tattooed people of the Philipppines. Spanish missionaries called Visayans, pintados or painted people.

THE HOUSES A typical nipa hut in the Philippines has : -BULWAGAN

one, large and open multi-purpose room for dwelling.

-SILONGis the cellar where the household chores are done.This is also serves as the area for livestock pens and storage space. -SALAused not only for receiving visitors but a sleeping area as well.-SILIDsmall room near sala, a place where mats,pillows and baskets of rice are kept.

-The walls are built of nipa and cogon leaves or sawali and woven bamboo.

- It has a large window on all sides, which keep the dwellings well-ventilated. -It is supported by a “tukod” or legs that holding the swing shades open during the day and closing it during the night. -Bahay Kubo has a ladder or “hagdan” which can be removed at night or when the people living are out.

-Also, some bahay kubo has an open porch or “batalan” where the jars of water are placed.

Education and System of Writing

No formal schools but children of school age were taught their own homes.

Their mothers who were their first teachers.

Ancient Filipinos were generally literate.

Music and religion were also taught to the children.

Syllabary ,Baybayin or Alibata- our ancestors system of writing.-where every letter is pronounced as a syllable.-syllabary, consisted of 17 symbols, 3 of which is vowels and 14 is consonants.

Early filipinos wrote on large leaves of plants and trees, sometimes on barks of trees and bamboo tubes.

as ink, they used colored sap. as pencil, they used pointed sticks or

iron/

Early Literature

Ancient Filipino Literature is classified into:1. Oral Literature – consisted of sabi (maxims),

bugtong (riddles), talindaw (boat song), tagumpay (victory songs), uyayi and hele (cradle song), ihiman ( wedding song), kumintang( war song) and many others.

*19th Century, kumintang became a LOVE SONG. During, Revulotion, it disappeared and was replaced as KUNDIMAN.

2. Written Literature - LEGENDS 

are forms of prose, the common theme of which is about the origin of a thing,place, location or name. The events are imaginary, devoid of truth andunbelievable. Its aim is to entertain.

e.g The Legend of Makahiya-FOLK TALES made up of stories about life, adventure, love, horror and humor where onecanderive lessons about life. These are useful to us because they help usappreciate our environment, evaluate our personalities and improve our perspectives in life.

e.g THE MOON AND THE SUN

- EPIC  are long narrative poems in which a series of

heroic achievements or events, usually of a hero, are dealt with at length. Nobody can determine which epics are the oldestbecause in their translations from other languages, even in English and Spanish. Biag ni Lam-ang – Ilokano Epic Maragtas – Visayan Epic Haraya – Visayan Epic Lagda – Visayan Epic Hari sa Bukid – Visayan Epic Kumintang – Tagalog Epic Parang Sabir – Moro Epic “Dagoy” at “Sudsod – Tagbanua Epic

Music and Dance

Filipinos are considered born musician. Ancient filipinos from all regions had dances

and songs for all occasions. Ilocanos had their musical instrument like

the Kutibeng, a sort of guitar with 5 strings; the flute; and the kudyapi. Their favorite dancers were the Kinnallogong(hat dance) and Kinnoton(ant dance).

Visayas, favorite dances were the Balitaw(exchange of extemporaneous love verses) and Dandansoy (courtship dance).

KUDYAPI

ARTS

The earliest Filipino works of art may be seen in their tools and weapons.

-tools and weapons before at first were rough, but as time went on, the Filipinos began to polish them.-with the introduction of bronze, instruments like bronze gongs, bells, and even drums were manufactured.-early Filipinos also used metal and glass.- daggers, bolos, knives and spears were made with artistic designs in their handle.

-Pottery with beautiful design was also made,while images of wood, ivory, and horn were carved.-Muslim Art,deals with plant and geometrical designs.-Ifugao art deals with animal and human representation.

IFUGAO ART

ISLAMIC ART

Religious Beliefs

Prehistoric Filipinos believed that the soul was immortal.

They also believed in life after death. They believe in one Supreme Being, they called

Bathala Maykapal or simply Bathala. They also worshipped minor deities whose

function were closely related to the daily life of the people.

Idiyanale-god of AgricultureSidapa-god of death

Agni-god of Fire

They worshipped the Sun. They venerated the moon, animalas and birds

for they believe in the interconnectedness of the unseen with the visible.

Anito-soul spirit that is venerated.-called the “Cult of Dead”-the memory of dead relatives was kept

alive carving images made of gold, stone and ivory.

-Image was called: larawan or likha – Tagalogdiwata – Visayansbulol- Ifugaos

Not all anitos are good, some are bad.

Offering were made to please the anitos.

The rituals are officiated usually by a woman priest called babaylan,baylan, or katalona and occasionaly by male priest.

BURIAL They also believed in life after death and the

relationship between the living and the dead. When a relative died he/she was placed in a

coffin and buried under his/her house. Living relatives placed his/her cloths, gold, and

other valuable in the coffin. *they belived that in this way, the dead

relative would be gladly received in other World.

Morotal- mourning for woman. Maglahi-mourning for man. Laraw- mourning for chieftain.

THE END!

Prepared by:Ma.Cathrina S. Belardo BSND3