Author: National Museum of the Philippines

The value of rice in the Philippines goes beyond its role as a staple food in the country and other neighboring countries in Asia. In its many forms and state, rice is deeply embedded in the daily routines as well as in rituals and festivities among several ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines. As we end the celebration of National Rice Awareness Month, we highlight today the socio-cultural significance of rice by featuring the most popular effigy associated with it – the bulul/bulol of the Ifugao in northern Philippines.

Bulul/bulol are carved anthropomorphic figures serving as granary idols believed to protect against pests and assure good harvest for the Ifugaos in the Cordillera. They are effigies of one’s ancestors and guardian spirits. Once they are given proper rituals by the descendant community, their status becomes bulul, transcending beyond being tag-tagu or human figures devoid of any social constructs or signification.

Christian missions in Ifugao in the 19^th century, though sporadic, resulted in the scarcity of the bulul as some families began to discard them; its production was reduced if not halted, making it difficult to obtain them starting from the 20^th century. Among the tradition-bound Ifugaos, only wealthy families could afford to commission and maintain a bulul since the required rituals are often lavish. This situation led some locals to re-appropriate tourist art from the market by performing new libations of blood and grease for ritual use. Various opinions on what makes a bulul “authentic” have surfaced, primarily due to its different production methods, yet some of these may have become conceptually “authentic,” having been superseded by the ritual performance and the ascribed value given by the descendant community.

The rise in demand for the currently limited number of original bulul (i.e. those that underwent ritual and were actually used by the community for their intended purpose) in antique shops from the early 1960s to late 1970s triggered the production of imitations and replicas. Some of the newly carved figures were buried in mud or ground to achieve the old and dark color of the wood. These bulul are often prized possessions as these have been passed down from generations. Acquiring them often required owners to spend for costly rituals to sort of remove their attachment to the divine. Moreover, retiring a bulul also obliges them to build and ritually cleanse another statue to serve as the deity’s new dwelling place.

This level of importance that we accord to the bulul/bulol has been the motivation for us at the National Museum of the Philippines to include them in our National Ethnographic Collection, along with hipag (war deities) and other anthropomorphic figures. While continuing debates on the authenticity of a bulul and expertise on Ifugao culture abound, what remains clear is the unceasing respect of our indigenous people for our ancestors, for nature, and for their sense of community. The bulul/bulol will forever be a testimony to the artistry and craftsmanship of the Ifugaos which we hope is still being passed on to the younger generations.

Learn more about the Philippines’ rice culture by visiting the newly upgraded Pakhey, Humay, Palay: Rice, Biodiversity and Climate Change gallery at the 4F, National Museum of Anthropology.

#Bulul
#RiceAwarenessMonth2022
#MuseumFromHome

Article and poster by the NMP Ethnology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

Did you know that scientists can reconstruct the Earth’s past climates thousands to millions of years ago? 

As we celebrate Global Warming and Climate Change Consciousness Week (Nov 19-25), let us learn how fossils are used in determining ancient climates and how they teach us about climate change. 

The study of past climate is known as Paleoclimatology. While we can’t go back to the past to see what the ancient climates were, luckily, nature has provided us with climate proxies. These proxies are imprints from our past that preserve our climatic history. Some proxies that we use in paleoclimate studies include shelled organisms and plant fossils. 

One standard method for determining ancient climates is by analyzing the chemical composition of shells of fossilized marine animals like forams (shelled microorganisms). The oxygen isotopes in shells give an indication of the temperature changes in the ocean over the last millions of years. Their abundance may also indicate ancient environmental conditions, wherein they typically proliferate in warmer weather.  Clamshells also have annual growth bands. The space between each band depends on the environmental conditions during the time when the growth bands were forming. 

Meanwhile, we know that plants cannot root in an inhospitable environment.  In each environment, they develop specific characteristics to help them adapt and survive.  These make them a reliable indicator of their climate and ecology. Typically, plants in tropical regions have smoother and larger edges, while plants that live in cooler regions are more jagged and have smaller leaves. When these are fossilized, we can get an idea of what climate they lived in. 

The Earth’s climate changes over the past millions of years are due to several factors operating together. The changes in the position of continents may close off or open up new routes of ocean currents, which can then change the distribution of temperature over the Earth’s surface.  Sea-level changes in response to mountain building and continental drift may have also caused paleoclimate changes. Generally, the sea level is high in times of warmth. Other factors that contribute to climate change include variations in atmospheric chemistry and the Earth’s orbital position to the Sun. 

The Earth’s climate has undergone extreme changes over its geologic history. And by studying past climates through fossils, we can better understand how climate will change in the future. 

Text and image by the NMP Geology and Paleontology Division

© National Museum of the Philippines (2022)

As we come to the close of our celebration of Museum and Galleries Month, we also commemorate the 60th anniversary of archaeological research at the Tabon Cave Complex in Quezon, Palawan. 

The Tabon Cave Complex (or simply Tabon Caves) was discovered by Robert Fox and the National Museum team during their exploration of the limestone formations in the municipality of Quezon. Interviews with the Pala’wan informants led them to explore Lipuun Point, where they discovered several caves rich with archaeological materials scattered on the floor. 

Among these caves is the magnificent Tabon Cave, where the earliest direct evidence of modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) in the Philippines was recovered. The fossilized skull cap and the tibia (leg bone) fragment were among the remains found in Tabon Cave, which were declared as National Cultural Treasures (or NCTs). Other outstanding artifacts recovered from the Tabon Caves were the Manunggul Secondary Burial Jar, jade lingling-o ornaments, and the Duyong shell adze – all of which were also declared as NCTs.

To mark the commemoration of this landmark exploration, our Archaeology Division, will open an exhibition titled Stories of Origins: The Beginnings of Archaeology at the Tabon Caves at the NMP-Tabon Caves Site Museum in Quezon, Palawan. The Stories of Origins exhibit will take you back to the early stages of the Tabon cave excavations through a series of photographs from the archives of the Archaeology Division, taken from 1962 to 1970. It will also showcase selected archaeological objects recovered from early archaeological investigations conducted. 

The Stories of Origins opens on October 28, 2022.

#MGM2022
#TabonCavesArchaeology60thAnniversary
#StoriesOfOriginsExhibit

Article, photo, and posters by Timothy James Vitales | NMP Archaeology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines