Surprising Facts You Didn't Know About Pre- Colonial Philippines. For more interesting facts about the Philippines and its culture, please check out our latest book, .
Don’t feel bad if you do, because chances are you’re not alone. Before this, I knew more about Rizal than anything else. Heck, even some school kids today believe that our history started after Magellan ?
It’s the fact that the little information we have about our ancestors were recorded by foreigners. Makes me wonder what would have happened had they not colonized us. We’ll probably never know, but for now, let’s learn some of the most interesting facts about our ancestors I bet you didn’t encounter in school. Also Read. They compressed their babies’ skulls for aesthetic reasons. Early human civilizations like the Mayans (see photo) and the Visayans intentionally reshaped their babies’ skulls to conform to their standard of beauty.
Source: Wikimedia Commons. In ancient Visayas, being beautiful could be as simple as having a flat forehead and nose.
The Didn't Think This Through trope as used in popular culture. One character will develop a plan designed to solve a certain problem
But since humans are not usually born with these features, the Visayans used a device called. Remember, babies’ skulls are the most pliable, so this continuous pressure often resulted into elongated heads. Also Read. Two of them are actually on display today at the Aga Khan Museum in Marawi.
Upon close examination of these skulls, it was also discovered that their shape varies depending on whether the pressure was applied between the forehead and the upper or lower part of the occiput (i. Hence, some had “normally arched foreheads but were flat behind, others were flattened at both front and back, and a few were asymmetrical because of uneven pressure.”2. Gold was literally everywhere. A golden statuette of the Hindu- Buddhist goddess “Kinari” found in a Butuan archeological dig. It is among some of the Indian- influenced artifacts found in the country.
When we’re young, we’re full of high spirits, we run in packs, and the pack often ruthlessly attacks anyone outside of it. Maybe it’s an inescapable part of being young and stupid. But he didn’t get much help from.
Source: Wikimedia Commons. There was plenty of gold in the islands during the precolonial times that it used to be part of our ancestors’ everyday attire.
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In the book by historian William Henry Scott, it was said that a “Samar datu by the name of Iberein was rowed out to a Spanish vessel anchored in his harbor in 1. Piloncitos, a type of coin used by the pre- colonial peoples of the archipelago. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Much of the gold artifacts that have been recovered in the country are believed to have come from .
Ancient Indian texts also suggest that merchant ships used to trade with people from what they referred to as! Since their discovery, some of these valued . You could judge how brave a man was by the color of his clothes. Native couple in the Philippines, as shown in the Boxer Codex.
Source: Wikimedia Commons. Clothing in precolonial Philippines reflected one’s social standing and, in the case of men, how many enemies they had killed. In the Visayas, for example, basic clothing included bahag. The material used to make these clothes could indicate the wearer’s social status, with the abaca being the most valued textile and reserved for the elites.
READ. They usually had natural colors, but warriors who personally killed an enemy could wear red. Source: Wikimedia Commons. The same rule applied to the male headdress called. Red was and still is the symbol of bravery, which explains why the most prolific warriors at that time proudly wore red bahag and pudong. Historian William Henry Scott writes.
The most prestigious kind of . Such pudong were lengthened with each additional feat of valor: real heroes therefore let one end hang loose with affected carelessness.”. Our ancient warship was three times faster than a Spanish galleon. Depiction of a naga- inspired “karakoa” warship of the early Filipinos.
From Emma Blair and James Robertson, “The Philippine Islands: 1. When I posted this on Facebook, I remember a disgruntled follower saying: “Why compare the Spanish galleon with our ancestors’ primitive warship? It would be like comparing motorcycle and a tank: The motorcycle might be faster, but it’s not gonna win a war!”But that’s exactly the point. They may be primitive, but our ancestors made the most of what they have and came up with an amazing marine architecture. The Visayan warship karakoa was the result of such ingenuity. Also Read. And that probably explains why our.
In fact, accounts from. It was so efficient that Fr. Homosexuals had an important role in pre- colonial society.“Babaylan” by R. Aguilar at the Negros Museum. Back then, there were no doctors or priests whom our ancestors could turn to when things went awry.
The only hope they had was a spirit medium or shaman who could directly communicate with the spirits or gods. They were known in the Visayas as. However, early Spanish missionaries reported of the existence of men who assumed the roles of a babaylan. In Aklan, for example.
When a warrior died, for example, a slave was traditionally tied and buried beneath his body. If one was killed violently or if someone from the ruling class died (say, a datu), human sacrifices were almost always required. Father Juan de Plasencia, an early missionary who authored “Relacion de las Costumbres de Los Tagalos” in 1.
Before interring him (the chief), they mourned him for four days; and afterward laid him on a boat which serve as a coffin or bier. The prize of his loyalty was often to die in the same manner as his master. After being intoxicated, these captives would then be killed in the most brutal ways.
Pioneer missionary Martin de Rada reported one case in Butuan wherein the slave was bound to a cross before being tortured by bamboo spikes, . It was considered a disgrace for a woman to have many children. Via Wikimedia Commons. There’s no such thing as “family planning” in pre- colonial Philippines. Everything they did was based on existing customs and beliefs, one of which was that having many children was not desirable and even a disgrace. Such was their fear to have more children that pregnant women were prohibited to eat. They believed that eating it would cause them to give birth to twins, which for them was a great insult.
Abortion was also practiced by almost everyone. The Boxer Codex reported that it was done with the help of female abortionists who used massage, herbal medicines, and even a stick to get the baby out of the womb. READ. Poverty was another reason, as reported by. Celebrating a girl’s first menstruation. In the precolonial era, however, this transition was seen as a crucial period in womanhood, so much so that all girls were required to go through an intricate rite of passage. The said ceremony was known as “dating” among ancient Tagalogs. It was usually held with the help of a.
During the ritual, the girl who was having her first period was secluded, covered, and blindfolded. Isolation usually lasted for four days if the woman was a commoner, while those belonging to the principal class had to go through this process for as long as a month and twenty days! The Boxer Codex. As if that’s not enough, the girl was also prohibited to talk to anybody, for fear that she would become talkative. All of these while her friends and relatives feasted and celebrated.
Also Read. Her feet weren’t allowed to touch the ground, so a catalonan or a male helper assisted her. The girl would be either led to the river through an “elevated walkway of planks” or carried by a male helper on his shoulder. After immersing eight times in the water, the girl was carried back to the home where she would be rubbed with traditional male scents like civet or musk. Father Placensia, who was among those who witnessed the ritual, discovered later on that the natives did this “in order that the girl might bear children, and have fortune in finding a husband to their taste, who would not leave them widows in their youth.”9. Whatever happened to our ancient writing system?
A page from Plasencia’s “Doctrina Christiana en lengua Espa. Father Chirino observed that there is “hardly a man, and much less .
First, we were not like China which was miles ahead when it comes to writing and record- keeping. Instead, our ancestors used anything they could get their hands on as their writing pad (leaves, bamboo tubes, bark of trees, you name it) while pointed weapons or saps of trees served as their ink. The. Historian Teodoro Agoncillo believed so: “Aside from the destructive work of the elements, the early Spanish missionaries, in their zeal to propagate the Catholic religion, destroyed many manuscripts on the ground that they were the work of the Devil himself.”. Social classes were not as permanent as we thought. Depiction of a pre- colonial noble Filipino couple in the Boxer Codex. Source: Wikimedia Commons. When the ancient Filipinos started trading with the outsiders, economy also started to improve.
This is when social classes began to emerge, and life suddenly became unfair. As you may recall from the HEKASI subject that bored you as a kid, the pre- colonial Filipinos were divided into four: There was the ruling. However, that’s not exactly the case, as there were reports of those who either moved up or down in the pre- colonial social ladder. A Visayan freemen (. Source: Wikimedia Commons. In the case of the. For example, as recorded by Father Plasencia, “if the maharlikas had children by their slaves, the children and their mothers became free.”.
In other words, an alipin. Courtship was a long, arduous, and expensive process. Painting by Botong Francisco.
Paninilbihan. From chopping wood to fetching water, the soon- to- be- groom would do everything to win his girl’s hand. READ. And even at that point, the courtship wasn’t over yet. The man was required to give. Of course, he needed the help of his parents to raise the required amount. Spanish chronicler Father Plasencia reported that a bigger amount of dowry was usually given to a favored son, especially if he was about to tie the knot with the chief’s daughter. In the case of the Visayans, this dowry was usually given to the father- in- law who would not entrust it to the couple until they had children.