Lesson no.

The Beginnings
of Filipino Society and
Culture
Tabon Cave in Palawan
• One of the most important break throughs was
the recovery of fossils of human bones in Tabon
Cave in Palawan on 1962.
Geological Foundation

• In 1964, Archbishop Ussher of Ireland

• The remains of extinct animals, of man-like

creatures , later of early men proved, however
briefly the main steps in his emergence as a
biological entity and as a tool using tool making
individual.
Pre-Tertiary Times

• From geological and paleontological studies, we

know that living things appeared on earth as
many as 1,500 million years ago, during the era
when primitive forms of life became recognizable.

• The Protozoic is estimated to have extended

from 925 to 505 years ago.
• The era from which we have many fossil
evidences of plant and animal life is the
Paleozoic. The time when fish, amphibians,
and other marine vertebrates appeared, from
about 505 to 205 million years ago.
Popularly, this era is known as the Age of
Reptiles.

• Most important material on the evolution of

man and his culture is found in the Cenozoic
era, or the age of advanced forms of animals,
about 75 to one million years ago.
Archeozoic (1500 to 925 million years ago)
The era when primitive forms of life became recognizable; the
Monera and Prokaryota.
Protozoic (925 to 505 million years ago)
The era when early life-forms (eukaryotes) abounded.
Paleozoic (505 to 205 million years ago)
The era when fish, amphibians, and other marine vertebrates
appeared.
Mesozoic (205 to 75 million years ago)
The era when large reptiles dominated the earth. Popularly,
this era is known as the age of reptiles.
Origin of the Ice Age

• Changes in the orbital position of the earth,

variations of sunspots, and the wavering of the
earth's axis. Also known as the Cyclic Theory.

• Climate depends upon three factors:

*The temperature of the area

*The direction of the winds
*The availability of moisture.
Effects of Pleistocene
climate on the Philippines
• In the Philippines, Mindanao was divided into
five major islands during the Pleistocene
period:
*Surigao in the east
*Agusan in the east central area
*Lanao in the central region
*Cotobato in the south
*Zamboanga in the west
• Leyte and Samar were composed of a series of
small islands; Bohol was covered by shallow
water and Cebu was a string of coralline-topped
islets which later united to form the present island.
 Fossil Evidence of the Evolution of Man

Man’s place in nature

• Three Infraclasses in the class of mammalia:

3 infraclasses of Mammalia

MONOSTREMES- lay eggs, hatch them, nurse their

young

MARSUPIALS- give birth to their young alive then carry

them inside a pocket on the belly

EUTHERIAN- nourished their young prenatally through

a placenta.
 The Australopithecines
• Australopithecines of South Africa
The earliest known fossil creatures identified as definitely man-
like in form

• In 1925 Prof. Dart published his study of the specimen

named Auatralopithecus (the southern ape)
• In 1959 Dr. Leakey and his wife found in Africa a
similar skull named Zijanthropus boisie with a cranial
capacity of about 600 cc’., - bigger than of the
previous finds.
Java and Peking Man
• Java man became known as Pithecanthropus
erectus, the “erect apeman.”

• Further analysis of the brain suggests that Java

man had the
power of speech.

• Anthropologists decided to abandon the

earlier name (Sinanthropus pekinensis) in
favor of Pithecanthropus pekinesis, placing
Java man and Peking Man in genus.

• Peking man is more advanced than that of the

Java man.
Characteristics
• Bones of the skull are very thick
• The forehead is receding
• Eyebrows are broad
• Skull has cranial capacity of 900 cc.
• Brain size ranges from 290 to 610 cc.
• Had the power to speech
Java Peking
man Man
Solo and Wadjak Man
ü Skulls are small and resembles the skulls of the
•
modern Australian aborigines
ü Wadjak I has cranial capacity of 1550 cc.
ü Wadjak II has cranial capacity of 1650 cc.
ü Brow ridges are somewhat larger than those of
ü the Australian aborigines
ü Weakly developed chin, more developed
forehead, and features characterized by
depressed nasal root.
Solo Man Wadjak Man
skull skull
 Keilor and Talgai Man
q KEILOR man was discovered in northwest of Melbourne
in 1940 has a cranial capacity of 1593 cc.
q Represents a type of people who moved out of java
during early post glacial in Europe
q TALGAI was recovered in a site 80 miles from Brisbane
q However, the specimen had been badly broken up
except for the fairly well preserved face
q And because of the bad state of the skull, exact
measurement could not be made
Niah Cave
q In 1958 skull fragments of a more advanced form
of hominoid were recovered at a depth of 106-110
in
q ”By carbon-14 dating, the age is gven as 40,000
yrs.
q Analysis indicates that it represents a person of
late maturity and unknown sex
q Has a receding forehead, shallow palate, round
skull side bones and a deep nasal root
Niah Cave
 The first Filipino
• In 1962, tabon skull fragment was discovered in Palawan
• Provided the latest fossil evidence for the wide distribution of
prehistoric men in southeast Asia during Pleistocene period
• By carbon-14 dating the age was said to be 22,000 yrs.
• The detailed laboratory indicates that there is no definite
morphological description of the skull
• Palawan man is a homo sapiens
• The recovered frontal bone shows somewhat prominent
eyebrowrigde and a slightly sloping forehead
The first Filipino
 TOOL TRADITIONS OF THE
PLEISTOCENE

q Aside from biological differences, another

criterion on which we base our separation of
ancient apelike men from true apes is the
presence of associated cultural materials.
q Pleistocene period- certain forested areas begin
to thin out, and in order to survive, animals
needed “to cross open country between one
area of woodland and another”
Comparative review of tool traditions
• Many of these implements do not look like tools. They are
found in concentrations along with few shaped ones, and in
places far from their source, they are labeled tools.

* Chipped pebbles in Sterkfontein, Swartkrans.

And Kromdrai.

* Chopping tools from the island of Patjitan.

* Hand ax (Abbevillian) in Europe.

* Stone tools in Africa.

* Poorly worked pebble tools in East Africa.

* Chopper tools in India.

* Core tools from Thailand.

* Quartzite pebbles from Indo-China

Comparative review of tool traditions
Broken pebbles (river stones) – Earliest tools used by
prehuman primates.
The Oldowan tools
- were flake tools, meaning the parts removed from
the stone were manipulated into specific tools.
-used for several purposes, including but not limited to
cutting meat and plant materials, scraping meat off
of bones, and sawing wood or bone, all of which
have been confirmed by microwear analysis.
Philippine Pleistocene tools
• In the Philippines, the earliest surviving tools of
ancient man consist of big, crudely worked
choppers.
• First, most of the tools were surface finds
brought to Manila by ditch diggers, farmers and
mining prospectors. Second, the archeological
work carried out in different sites were examined
with almost no systematic digging.

* Flake tool in Palawan

* Brackish-water shells in Duyong, Cave
* Scrapers and cutting tools in Tabon
First Interglacial Period:
§ The Abbevillian – the earliest tool tradition in
Europe is a hand axe asymmetry and rough
retouch.
§ The Acheulian – hand axe symmetry and
fine retouch
Second Interglacial Period:
§ The period of new tool development
Third Interglacial Period:
§ The rise of “Mousterian Tradition”
§ got its name from the site of Le Moustier in France, and it
involves retouching the flakes removed from the cores.
§ These carefully reshaped flakes and cores allowed up to 63
different stone tool types to be created to meet the
requirements of the Neanderthals, ranging from
§ animal butchery, woodworking, bone and antler carving, and
working animal hides.
§ the earliest surviving tools of ancient man consist of big,
crudely worked choppers
§ the materials used for making these implements were flint,
quartz, and chalcedony
§ the earliest materials in Palawan consist of flake tools made of
chert, a local material common in river beds.
 § apperance of new tools in the Philippines during
the period between 7,000 and 2,000 BC.
•
§ our early ancestors made new adjustments in
order to survive

ü Neolithic period – ‘flaked and polished stone implements

period’
ü – 2 Greek words neo and lithic meaning “new stone”
(appearance of polished stone tools)
ü -Farming appeared earlier than polished stone tools.
§ Our ancestors learned the art of making better
tools and domesticating plants and animals
§ appearance of Local pottery wares suggest the
existence of self-sufficient economy
§ no dramatic developments unlike Middle East
and Europe
§ Supplemented agriculture with hunting and
foodgathering
 EARLY NEW STONE
AGE
 MIDDLE NEW
STONE AGE
LATE NEW STONE
AGE
 Early New Stone Age
Tool types
1. Bacsonian – -also called
protoneolithis (“before the
neoliths” / polished stone tools)
-first known type of implements
during New Stone Age
(ex. roughly flaked tools with
ground blades/cutting edges)
T e c •h n o l o g i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t s w h i c h -first recognized at Bacson
accompanied the appearance of stone Massif of Indo-China
implements during the Early New Stone Age -found mostly in Bataan, Rizal
cannot as yet be assessed with precision, owing and Bulacan provinces
la rge ly to the fa c t t h a t n o habitation s i t e -body of this tool type is not
belonging exclusively to this period has yet been polished
excavated.
 Early New Stone Age
2. Ground and polished tools- later implement
with oval cross-section
§ bodies and blades are ground and polished
§ the technique of grinding is cruder in this
§ phase period between 6,000 and 7,000 years
§ axes and adzes of oval form began to appear (ideal type of
tool for nearly two centuries)
•
3. Cylindrical “adze-chisel-gouge”
§ blade was narrower than the “central diameter of the body of
the implement itself” has spoon-shaped concave blades
 Early New Stone Age
4. Sharp-sided adzes
§ absent on the southeast Asiatic mainland
§ lenticular form (sharpened sizes with a blunt butt) Origin and
associated culture
§ early stone implements probably came frorm Asian mainland and
reached the country by way of Indo-China (China Sea to Luzon)
§ originated in Manchuria and proceeded down to Japan, Formosa,
and
• Luzon
§ started from Central China to Indo-China, then eastward to Luzon
and Formosa, northward into Korea, Japan and Manchuria
§ no habitation site belonging to this period has yet been excavated
 Early New Stone Age
Beyer (1948:21) – believes that no pottery was made
in the country during Early New Stone
Age
Evidences:
1. Living groups still carry on post-paleolithic period
2. •Ilongot and Apayao people do not make pottery
J on es 1 9 1 2 a n d F o x 1 9 4 7 – b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e
assumption of Beyer is doubtful
- Believed that Ilongot people do make pottery.
Middle New Stone Age
• Included in this new assemblage were the true shouldered axe-
adze type, the ridge-back types, and the tanged-butt tools
which has been identified by scholars as ancestral to the
Hawaiian and eastern Polynesian tool types.

Ex. Tridanca gigas

§ Some people of the Pacific islands

came from the Philippines.
Domestication of plants and animals
intensified.
§ Root-crops like gabi and yams were
planted (Fox 1959:19).
 Middle New Stone Age
Tool Types
Appeared in the islands during the period from 4,000 to
about 1,000 years ago.
§ Shouldered axe – adze type, ridged-back types, and
tangedbutt tools
§ Four adzes – made from the hinge of a giant clam,
the Tridacna gigas
§ The Duyung cave was about 4,630 years before the
present
§ Hoifung adze – early transitional type
 •
•
•
•
(1) the use of hard materials capable of being polished

(2) •the use of new techniques of tool making, such as sawing

(3) the appearance of well-developed tools

In 1956, in a series of excavations of the National Museum made in

Bato(Sorsogon) caves, there was revealed an assemblage of stone
tools and stone beads with pottery.

The Late New Stone Age people were extremely competent tool-
makers.
Tool Types:

§ During period between 2,00 B.C. and 100 A.D.

§ Recognized tool type began to appear in many parts of the

Philippines:

§ Use of hard materials capable of being polished

§ Use of new techniques of tool making, such as sawing and

•
drilling

§ Appearance of well-developed, beautifully polished,

rectangular and trapezoidal tools, with completely flattened
sides

§ Use of jade and nephrite materials both ornaments and tools

were extensive, especially in Batangas area
§ Late New Stone Age people were extremely competent tool-makers.
§ Bark-cloth beaters, tools made of jade, and other products, they also made
a fine type of stone implement known as stepped adzes.
§ It is probable that agriculture started to become the primary source of
livelihood during the Late New Stone Age, although i t w as s t i l l
supplemented by hunting and fishing.
§ The recovery of teeth and bones of domesticated pigs, dogs, and other
domesticated animals were also brought into the islands.
• cultivation of upland rice and millet was contemporaneous with the
§ First
introduction of domesticated animals.
§ Stone structures as are founds at Mohenjo-Daro indicates that settlements
of the Philippines never reached the city-state status in preSpanish times
but were organized in accordance with the mode of living which centered
about fishing and shifting cultivation.
Earlier writers (Keesing and Keesing 1934: 51; Beyer 1948) have argued that
the present-day compact settlements found among the peoples of Mountain
Province were introduced into northern Luzon by migrations from eastern Asia
during Late Neolithic times it is doubtful that this was the case:
§ There is no good evidence that during the period between 1500 and 500
B.C. there were large, compact communities in southeast Asia.
§ Communities of this type were not possible before intensive cultivation of
irrigated rice.
§ It was apparently not until the Han Dynasty, about 200 B.C to 200 A.D.,
• there was expansion and migration into southeast Asia.
that
§ Fred Eggan ha pointed out (1954: 330), small boatloads of migration
weren’t likely to maintain large scale community patterns in a new land
under pioneer condition. It is much more probable that the large compact
community structure of Mountain Province is a relatively late development
related to populational increase in region of limited resources in land and
water.
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YOU!