The Arroceros Forest Park Site, given its proximity to the Pasig River, is believed to have served as a loading and unloading area for various commodities transported along the river with minimal trading activities taking place. It could have been used intermittently as a talipapa (makeshift market) until a permanent parian (marketplace) would have been moved elsewhere in the vicinity.

The term “arroceros” (literally “rice farmers”) originates from the early Spanish Period. Its root word “arroz” means rice suggesting that it was a place where rice was delivered via riverine routes, and eventually sold to consumers and retailers. The Arroceros Forest Park Site is the former location of Parian de Arroceros (1595–1639; 1645–1792), Fabrica de Cigarillos (2nd half of the 19th century to early 20th century), and compound of the then Department of Education, Culture and Sports or DECS (postwar to 1993), to name a few.

Thousands of archaeological materials systematically recovered at the site include ceramics (Chinese and European porcelain sherds, earthenware and stoneware sherds, Manila ware sherds, tiles), adobe and clay bricks, glass beads, bottle shards, metal fragments, various buttons, iron nails, metal crucifix, Spanish and Chinese coins, bone needle, and animal bones and teeth. Judging from the quantity and nature of archaeological materials recovered during the investigation, the heaviest occupation period appears to be the 19th century. All these items add up to the richness of our museums and serve as our tangible links not only to our ancestors but also to nature as it once was.

Article by Giovanni G. Bautista and poster by Randy M. Episcope | NMP Archaeology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

165th Birth Anniversary of Juan Luna

As we continue to celebrate Museums and Galleries Month, the #NationalMuseumPH through its Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Division (MUCHD) gives you a glimpse of the most recent fieldwork activities in Butuan City. 

Amongst the most notable example of wooden craft remains recovered in the Philippines are the Butuan Boats, dated between the 8th and 10th centuries CE (Common Era). These ancient boats were found beneath the mudflats of an old river system in Butuan City in the 1970s. They served as the oldest material evidence of the early watercraft in the Philippines featuring the ingenuity of early Filipinos. Lately, the importance and the widespread occurrence of this watercraft in the country were investigated.

Mr. Nero M. Austero, Senior Museum Researcher of MUCHD, in collaboration with Dr. Ligaya SP. Lacsina of the Archaeological Studies Program in UP-Diliman (UP-ASP), and Dr. Abhirada Komoot of the Thammasat University in Thailand, conducted a preliminary ocular assessment from October 07–10, 2022. They documented and assessed the current condition of the old excavation sites as well as the Butuan boat collections at the NMP-Eastern Northern Mindanao Regional Museum in Butuan in preparation for a possible regional collaborative project.  During the 4-day activity, the riverine and nearby coastal communities in Butuan were also visited to collect data on the current as well as the traditional boat-building practices. The team also conducted an ocular survey on the availability of the sugar palm, Arenga pennata. Sugar palm or Hijok plant, locally termed as kaong, is archaeologically referred to as the source of Cabo negro or the black fiber used as ropes in building the Butuan boats and other similar Southeast Asian lashed-lug boats. 

The preliminary assessment was successful in confirming the presence of kaong in the area, and gathering information on boat-building technology in Butuan. This information will deepen our historical, archaeological, and ethnographical knowledge of the variety, innovations, and lost practices of ancient boat-building technology. With further research, we can conserve and protect our heritage towards a better future for our museums. 

#MGM2022

#MaritimeMonday

#FutureOfMuseums

#MaritimeHeritage

#ButuanBoats

Article and poster by the NMP Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines

References 

Lacsina LSP. (2020). The Butuan Boats: Southeast Asian Boat Construction in the Philippines at the End of the First Millennium. The Journal of History. LXVI: 1-35.

(2019).  The same-same boatbuilding tradition? Looking at the different examples of lashed-lug boats from the Southeast Asia. In Past, Present and Future of ASEAN Maritime Heritage. 38-53. 

(2016a). Examining pre-colonial Southeast Asian boatbuilding: An archaeological study of the Butuan Boats and the use of edge-joined planking in local and regional construction techniques. Dissertation, Flinders University, South Australia. Pp.272. 

(2016b). Boats of the Precolonial Philippines: Butuan Boats. In Selin H. (Eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. 948-954. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7747-7_10279. 

(2015). The Butuan Boats of the Philippines: Southeast Asian edge-joined and lashed-lug watercraft. Bulletin of the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology. 39: 126-132. 

The #NationalMuseumPH celebrates Museum and Galleries Month (MGM) by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 798, s. 1991. For this week, we are featuring one of the most visited exhibitions in the National Museum of Anthropology (NMA)—the Baybayin: Ancient and Traditional Scripts of the Philippines Gallery.

The Baybayin Gallery, completed in 2014, aims to feature and promote awareness of the writing systems used by ancient Filipinos manifested through archaeological evidence and archival materials, such as written documents and published books during the Spanish period. The gallery also highlights the continuing tradition of writing syllabic scripts among the extant indigenous communities in Mindoro and Palawan. 

Notable artifacts displayed in the Baybayin Gallery include the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, Calatagan Ritual Pot, and Butuan Metal Paleograph – all declared National Cultural Treasures or NCTs. Other archaeological evidence featured is the Butuan Ivory Seal, as well as the Intramuros Pot Sherd, and the Monreal Stones. The gallery also features facsimiles of archival materials, such as the Doctrina Christiana, Mi último adiós, and Estudio de los Antiguos Alfabetos Filipinos, to name a few. 

The continuing tradition of script writing among the Hanunoo and Buhid of Mindoro and Tagbanua and Pala’wan of Palawan can be found in the gallery’s ethnographic section. A section features the revival of Baybayin script interest among the present generations of Filipinos, particularly the youth, in the Philippines and abroad. A dedicated activity area where visitors can learn and practice writing in Baybayin was also part of the gallery before the pandemic.

CLICK on the links to learn more about the previously featured artifacts exhibited at the Baybayin Gallery!

#MGM2022
#BaybayinGallery
#MuseumFromHome

Article and posters by Gerard John Palaya | NMP Archaeology Division

© 2022 National Museum of the Philippines