Karsts are areas of land made of limestone, a soluble sedimentary rock. These regions have landscapes that are largely shaped by the dissolving power of water.  They typically have irregular terrain punctuated by caves, underground rivers, and cliffs created after thousands of years of water dissolving and eroding them. 

Karst forests consist of isolated steep-sided hills that tower from the ground. This topography forms in wet, tropical regions, like the Philippines, which have thick beds of highly fractured limestone where water has dissolved large volumes of limestone, leaving these residual towers. 

The development of karst processes is more rapid in tropical climates due to the abundant rainfall and increased carbon dioxide from decaying tropical vegetation. It means more carbonic acid is available for the dissolution of limestone. 

A remarkable stone forest is found in Kunming, China. Meanwhile, the Philippines is also gifted with a wide array of karst landscapes that vary in landform and age. And some of these are steep-sided karst towers resembling stone forests in Coron Island in northern Palawan and on the west coast of Palawan. Magnificent karst towers are also found in the Masungi Georeserve in Rizal. 

Aside from the diverse ecosystem that thrives in karst regions, it is also ideal for storing waste as an aquifer providing clean drinking water to people, animals, and plants. We also benefit in terms of tourism and recreation from these regions.  But, it is essential to note that their conservation, protection, and sustainable management should be our priority. 

The National Museum of the Philippines joins in commemorating the 76th birth anniversary of Pacita Abad. Born in Batanes on this day in 1946, she had to leave the Philippines in 1969 due to political turmoil. She decided to remain in San Francisco to paint and later pursued painting in the Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Art Students League of New York. Pacita was a well-traveled artist, drawing inspiration from her travels in Mexico, India, Afghanistan, Thailand, Laos, and Indonesia. A prolific artist in various media like ceramics, glass, and fabric, she was inspired by their local art forms’ vibrancy and intricate patterns and took the time to learn their art traditions and practices. She even developed a technique called trapunto painting, a quilting method that involved layering quilted material with various objects such as glass, shells, and mirrors to give it a three-dimensional effect. Her art’s subject matter is diverse, ranging from landscapes to sociopolitical commentaries.

Featured today from the National Fine Arts Collection, is an oil on canvas painting by Pacita Abad entitled “Horseshoe Drive” created in 1983. You may view this artwork at the GSIS Northwest Wing Hallway Gallery, Third Floor, National Museum of Fine Arts. Her masterpieces are also part of the collection of museums located in the Philippines and in countries such as Australia, Bulgaria, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Japan, Jordan, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the USA. 

Follow this page for more features from the National Fine Arts Collection. The #NationalMuseumPH is open Tuesday to Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Entrance is free!

Click this link for the 360-degree virtual tour of the nine select galleries at the National Museum of Fine Arts:  https://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nmfa360/HTML5/NMFA360.html

#OnThisDay
#PacitaAbad
#MuseumFromHome

Article and photo by the NMP Fine Arts Division. With contributions from Museum Volunteer Mikaela Reyes.

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

Only a few of Albay’s heritage churches withstood the effects of volcanic eruptions, one is Daraga Church, the focus of today’s #BuiltTraditionThursday. The Nuestra Señora de la Porteria Church or Daraga Parish Church’s bell tower, eastern and western facades, and baptistry were declared a National Cultural Treasure by the National Museum in 2007. In 2008, Daraga church was recognized with a Level II Historical marker by the National Historical Institute.

Built on top of a hill by the Franciscans in 1773, the Daraga Church offers an unimpeded scenic landscape dominated by its rich Baroque church architecture. Adding to its unique setting is the Mayon Volcano, which is clearly visible northward of the elevated terrain and from the right side of the church. The north and south sides are bounded by open spaces providing wide corridors and buffers. Grand stairways lead to the church’s main facade facing eastward. The church is cruciform in plan with its U-shaped convent attached to the southern wall and the campanile adjacent to the northern wall. The church structure’s footprint is about 3,878.26 sq. m. with a width of about 46 meters. The four-level campanile, octagonal in plan, is about 21.17 meters high and houses a bell with a diameter of roughly 17 meters. 

The walls of Daraga Church, which are made primarily of volcanic rocks, remained intact and exhibit Baroque ornamentation. The heavily articulated front façade, facing east, is divided into three lateral segments, separated by four twisted columns or Salomónica columns, and topped by a triangular pediment containing niches of saints and foliage embellishments. Each Salomónica column has a fern capital and a shaft that contains a relief of twisting vines and grapes or ubas, and a medallion of an ecclesiastical image at mid-shaft. Each segment has an arcuated portal with carved foliage, statued niches, and religious arts adorning every space on the masonry walls. Inscriptions and sculpted decorations border the central entrance arch, as well. 

In 2012, Daraga church has undergone a conservation process through a stakeholder-initiated restoration that received grant funding from the National Commission of Culture and the Arts (NCCA). The project commenced with an extensive research, physical inventory, documentation, experimentations, and trainings to determine and execute appropriate measures for conservation. Proper and necessary interventions were implemented on the church’s architectural and stone surfaces on exterior walls and massive buttresses. Mayon rocks were also delicately crafted to replace missing stone components. Wall surfaces were applied a lime wash, which was documented in the inventory as the original finishing. 

The Daraga Church exemplifies an elaborately sculpted Baroque edifice featuring ecclesiastical arts of the Franciscan order set in a distinctive and elevated landscape with a view of the Mayon Volcano—an architectural marvel and a historical landmark worth protecting and preserving. 

Article, photos, and illustration by Ar. Marie Bernadette Balaguer

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

ANCHORS AWEIGH!

In continuing celebration of the Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month or #MANAMo this September 2022, this week’s #TrowelTuesday features the iron anchor from Donsol Astillero retrieved in Barangay Dancalan, Donsol, Sorsogon.

The anchor, measuring 3 m in length, was exposed after a flood in the area in the 1950s. It was documented by Dr. Mary Jane Louise Bolunia, now the Division Chief of the Archaeology Division of the #NationalMuseumPH, during an archaeological survey in 1994.

The Astillero Site was archaeologically excavated for 4 field seasons from 1995 to 1997 by the #NationalMuseumPH. Situated on a farm known as Astillero, locals claim that the area was named after an actual astillero or shipyard located in the area.

Most of the recovered artifacts were made of iron, such as nails, spikes, and dowels. There were also copper and lead objects, fuel materials (charcoal, coal, and coke), shells, bone fragments, and ceramics that included earthenware, stoneware, Chinese and European porcelain sherds, bricks, and tiles.

Based on the initial geoarchaeological assessment, it suggests that the location was originally a mangrove area and infilled with soil to make it useful for the purpose of the astillero. Aside from the recovered artifacts, the team also discovered remnants of a furnace and man-made pools called lepak, probably used as a source of water for cooling metals during smelting, iron slag deposit, and earthenware crucibles. This indicates that the site once had a fabrica, a metal workshop for shipbuilding materials, and a shipyard approximately used during the Spanish period.

Astilleros are evidence of the Spanish colonization lost over time. Archaeological activities in the Donsol Astillero led to the discovery of a shipyard participating in the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. The location of Donsol Astillero in Sorsogon was favorable to the galleon trade not only because it was part of the trade route but because of its rich natural and human resources to build and repair ships. The province also boasts of other astilleros, like the Binanuahan and Panlatuan in Pilar and Bagatao in Magallanes.  

More research has to be done on the Astillero Sites to fully understand its role in the country’s maritime history. The iron anchor from Astillero is currently on loan to the Museo Sorsogon, where you can also view other archaeological materials recovered from the province.

#Anchor

#DonsolAstilleroSite

#MuseumFromHome

Text by Sherina Aggarao and Mary Jane Louise Bolunia, and poster by Timothy James Vitales | NMP Archaeology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

References:

Bolunia, M. J. L. (1996a). Brief Accomplishment Report on Astillero, Brgy. Dancalan, Donsol, Sorsogon and vicinities [Fieldwork Report]. National Museum of the Philippines.

Bolunia, M. J. L. (1996b). Preliminary report on the archaeological exploration and test excavations of the Astillero Site, Dancalan, Donsol, Sorsogon (December 8-15, 1995) [Fieldwork Report]. National Museum of the Philippines.

Bolunia, M. J. L. (1997). The Astillero: A metal smelting site in Barangay Dancalan, Donsol, Sorsogon [Fieldwork Report]. National Museum of the Philippines.

Bolunia, M. J. L. (1998). Astillero: An archaeological analysis of a 19th century metal smelting site [Master’s Thesis]. University of the Philippines.

Bolunia, M. J. L. (2014). Astilleros: The Spanish shipyards of Sorsogon. In Proceedings of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage.

Ronquillo, W., & Bolunia, M. J. L. (2012). Binanuahan and Panlatuan Astillero: Spanish period shipyard in Pilar, Sorsogon (A preliminary report) [Fieldwork Report]. National Museum of the Philippines.

In celebration of the Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month or #MANAMo this month, today’s #TrowelTuesday features the 9^th to 10^th century archaeological evidence of maritime relations between the Philippines and the Islands of Southeast Asia.

The 2nd millennium Common Era (CE) was characterized by intensified maritime exchange, development of political alliances, and cultural diffusion in Island Southeast Asia, as distinctly shown in archaeological discoveries in the region, including the Philippines. The maritime movement of people left footprints through material evidence, suggesting trade and contact with neighboring countries. 

The Srivijayan Hindu-Buddhist traders from Sumatra may have actively traded with the Philippines in the 8th–11th century CE. 

Changsha wares are grayish green-tinged underglaze stoneware vessels/dishes produced at the Changsha kilns of Hunan Province in southern China during the Tang Dynasty (618–906 CE). These were among the trade items provided for the overseas market around this period. Underwater archaeological excavations of the 9th-century Arab dhow wreck in Belitung Island near Sumatra, known as the Belitung shipwreck, revealed cargoes of Changsha bowls and other ceramic forms. 

Changsha ware is a type of ceramic rarely found in Philippine sites. These were reportedly excavated in Laurel, Batangas, and much recently in Mulanay, Quezon. The Mt. Kamhantik Site in Mulanay yielded stoneware glazed bowls associated with sarcophagus burials that were used as a grave offering for the dead. The site is a good source of information on the maritime exchange, movement, and relations during the 9th century CE, as reports revealed that Changsha bowls were extensively used as religious and ceremonial icons among the Hindus and Buddhists, particularly in the Indo-Malaysian region.

The lashed-lug plank-built boats, found in Butuan, Agusan del Norte, are additional proof of the maritime trade network in the 9th century. Butuan boats are the oldest watercraft in the Philippines, constructed between the late 8th and early 10th centuries. These may have shared standard technological techniques with other Southeast Asian regions in terms of constructing lashed-lug vessels. 

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) is another piece of evidence of the Hindu-Buddhist material found in the country. The LCI is a thin copper strip with etchings similar to the Early Kawi script’s form. Anthropologist Antoon Postma’s translation of the LCI’s text shows the Saka date of 822, or 900 CE, the start of King Belitung of Central Java’s reign. The LCI suggests a contract that existed between the Philippines and its neighbors in the Southeast Asian region, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia.

The Changsha ceramics in Mt. Kamhantik Site, the Butuan boats, and the Laguna copperplate inscription are material evidence that signifies the maritime contact and healthy relationships between regions in Southeast Asia.

#MANAMo

#MuseumFromHome

#NationalMuseumPH

Article by Nida Cuevas. Images by Timothy James Vitales | NMP Archaeology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

Birth Anniversaries of Nena Saguil and Impy Pilapil