In the continuing observance of #Undas2021, for this week’s #TrowelTuesday let us look at the burial goods interred together with the dead in the archaeological setting.

Grave goods or furniture, burial goods, or pabaon are materials interred with the dead as part of our local mortuary tradition observed since the Neolithic Period (3000-500 Before Common Era or BCE). These materials were presumed to be buried with the dead as gifts to the ancestors or gods, as provisions, or as means to repel evil on their journey to the afterlife. The use of burial goods and the manner of interment were seen as a symbol of prestige and status of the deceased and of those who buried them.

Some examples of excavated grave goods include local potteries, tradeware ceramics, tools made from various materials, spindle whorls, barkcloth beaters, and ornaments. Early forms and types of grave goods were locally manufactured, such as local pottery, ornaments, and tools made from stone, clay, and shell. As time progressed, more items that originated outside the Philippines were observed among burial sites. Foreign objects such as glass and stone beads, iron tools, stoneware, and porcelain were extensively recovered in various burial sites across the country.

In Santa Ana, Manila, pre-colonial burials dating from the 11th to 14th century were excavated in the 1960s. Burials were interred with rich grave goods consisting of Chinese ceramics from the Sung and Yuan dynasties, earthenware, coins, glass beads, and metal implements and ornaments (https://tinyurl.com/QingpaiPorcelainBoatFigurine). 

Various sites in Calatagan, Batangas have been excavated since the 1940s, which yielded more than 1,000 burials dating around the 15th century. While the most common burial goods were earthenware vessels and foreign ceramics from China, Vietnam, and Thailand, spindle whorls, ornaments, iron implements, and shells were also present in the burial assemblages.

Early historic period burials were unearthed in the municipality of Boljoon in Cebu, dating back to the 16th to 17th century. Grave goods recovered from the site included Chinese and Japanese ceramics, iron tools, earthenware vessels and sherds, gold ornaments, glass beads, and worked bone artifacts (https://tinyurl.com/BoljoonBurials).

An increasing pattern of complexity in the burial goods was observed on sites across different periods. For example, while there was a general contrast of burials with richer grave goods and those with little to no burial goods during the Metal Age (500 BCE to 1st century), the burials during the Protohistoric Period (9th century to 1521) were much more stratified. 

The #NationalMuseumPH is open for public viewing, following the IATF guidelines for Alert Level 2 in Metro Manila. Reserve a slot for your upcoming visit and explore our collections and exhibitions through this website.

#BurialGoods

#ArchaeologyOfTheDead

#MuseumFromHome

#YearOfTheFilipinoPrecolonialAncestors

Text by Sherina Aggarao and posters by Timothy James Vitales | NMP Archaeology Division

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)

This week on #MaritimeMonday highlights two incense burners from the Santa Cruz shipwreck. The vessel carried predominantly Chinese stoneware and porcelain ceramics, and limited amounts of Thai, Vietnamese and Burmese/Myanmar stoneware. The non-ceramic items include iron, glass, wood, and stone objects, as well as organic remains. For more information about the Santa Cruz shipwreck, please see https://tinyurl.com/SantaCruzShipwreck.

Among the recovered materials were two remarkable stoneware animal figurines in the form of a deer and an ox, used as incense burners. These are high-fired, green-glazed stoneware pieces with stamped circular incisions on their bodies and supported by circular pedestals. Their tubes for the incense or possibly candle sticks are mounted at the back of the animals. They were initially identified to have been produced by the Si Satchanalai kilns in Thailand, but recent excavations in the kilns in present-day Twante Township, Yangon region in Myanmar proved otherwise. The incense burners, along with the celadon dishes also produced by the Twante kilns that were also part of the Santa Cruz cargo, are significant. These give direct material evidence of Myanmar’s engagement with foreign trade during the 15th and early 16th centuries Common Era that was not evident in extant historical records.

The #NationalMuseumPH is now open to the public but visits are by appointment through this website. Monitor our social media pages such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for further announcements. In the meantime, you may watch the virtual tour of the upgraded ‘300 Years of Maritime Trade in the Philippines’ exhibition here: https://tinyurl.com/300YearsOfMaritimeTradePH

#IncenseBurner

#SantaCruzShipwreck

#MuseumFromHome

#StaySafeStayHome

#BeatCOVID19

Poster and text by the Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Division

Photos © Christoph Gerigk © Franck Goddio/Far Eastern Foundation for Nautical Archaeology

© National Museum of the Philippines (2021)

For today’s #BuiltTraditionThursday series, we feature one of the structures displayed at the Placuna placenta (capis) exhibition, the Legarda Elementary School. Located in Sampaloc, Manila amidst the residential zone of the district, Paaralang Legarda or Legarda Elementary School stands on a large block bounded by Jacobo Fajardo, Craig, Sergio H. Loyola, and Eduardo Quintos Streets.

Paaralang Legarda is one of the Gabaldon Schoolhouses in Manila. During the American period, education was a prime concern hence school building construction was a priority in infrastructure development. Gabaldon Act (Act. No. 1801) was introduced by Congressman Isauro Gabaldon of Nueva Ecija and was enacted by the Philippine Legislature on the 20th of December in 1907. With William E. Parsons as the architect, the standardized design considers the tropical climate, earthquakes, insect infestation, local building materials, styles, and motifs. The curriculum also largely shaped the planning of the school buildings, which considers learning and teaching spaces especially for home economics and livelihood programs. 

Established in 1922, Paaralang Legarda displays a Victorian style of architecture. From the southeast side along J. Fajardo Street, the entrance opens to a driveway and garden with lush and rich foliage. Coming to view is the wooden main building designed by Andres Luna de San Pedro. The main building, with an over-all 60.60-meter length and 49.95-meter width, is H-shaped in plan. The portico’s deck is skirted by low stone balusters and leads the eye to the central part of the building as it is topped off by a main gable with wooden bracket articulation. The mansard roof, with projecting small gables and dormers, are architectural elements indicating American influence. Portions of the mansard roof behind the main gable have wrought iron grilles on edges with a turret at its center. Exterior walls are made of wood with weathercut sidings. Another distinctive feature is regularly occurring eaves brackets in simple straight and curving embellishment.

One feature of Gabaldon schoolhouse are awning-type windows with capis shell panes originally seen on the main building of Paaralang Legarda. Now, it was replaced by modern sets of glass jalousies while the capis shell panels on its transoms are retained. On the main gable at the main building’s central axis emphasizes a half circular window in sunburst pattern which originally has capis shell panes. 

The Legarda Elementary School exemplifies not only a venue of learning and development, but also a historical structure with aesthetic value worthy of preservation and appreciation. Drop by the Placuna placenta exhibition at Gallery 20 of the National Museum of Fine Arts to see and learn more about the use of capis shell windows in Manila’s built heritage.  

Text and illustrations by Ar. Bernadette B. Balaguer and photos by Erick E. Estonanto and Ar. Armando Arciaga III | NMP AABHD