STS

• Development of S&T in the Philippines

  1. Stone Age

  2. Iron Age

  3. Chalcolithic Age

  4. 10th century AD to Before Spaniards came

  5. Spanish Regime

  6. American Period

  7. Birth of DOST
• Early inhabitants of the Philippine Islands

  • Relatively self-sufficient
  • Established autonomous communities before Spaniards arrived
  • Simple level of technological development compared to China and Japan
• Archaeological findings revealed existence of scattered communities even before the Spaniards came
• Stone Age


  1. Philippine islands formed 70MYA

  2. Earliest people ~750,000 YA

  3. Used stone tools, fossils of large migrating animals found

  4. Led mobile existence, hunting and gathering, using fire and stone tools
• Earliest people in the Philippines probably belonged to Homo luzonensis species, about 67000yo

  
• Stone Age in the Philippines

  1. Simple tools and weapons of stone flakes

  2. Produced adzes, ornaments of seashells and pottery

  3. Imported Chinese porcelain

  4. Produced copper, bronze, iron, and gold metal tools and ornaments

  5. Traded with other societies
• Stone Age Tools found in the Philippines

  • Flaked artifacts
  • Petroglyphs
  • Bark Cloth Beater

  
• Iron Age


  1. Iron supplied by Chinese traders

  2. Local blacksmiths processed iron for agriculture and household implements

  3. Surpluses traded to other groups

  4. No standardized manufacturing, small scale

  5. No real iron age, only iron-utilizing societies beginning ca. 370 B.C
• Chalcolithic Age/Metal Age


  1. Gold, bronze, brass and copper in form of ornamental beads, tools

  2. Inhabitants learned to weave cotton, make glass ornaments, cultivate lowland rice and dike fields

  3. Learned to build boats for trading
• Evidence of a metal age in Southern Mindanao

  • Sagel Cave jar burial with iron knife and fossilized shell bead
  • Enhances prehistoric jar burial tradition of Southern Mindanao
• Filipinos from Butuan traded with Champa (Vietnam) and those from Ma-I (Mindoro) with China as noted in Chinese records
• Regular trade relations between Philippines, China and Vietnam established from 10th to 15th century AD
• People of Ma-I and San-Hsu (Palawan) traded various goods with China
• By this time, early Filipinos had a system of governance ('balangay' = gave birth to barangay) and paganistic beliefs and practices
• This module is the property of Lynn E. Rallos, Science Dept, MSU-GSC
• Useful References
• This module is developed by Aldrin P. Cosme, Science Department, MSU-GSC. All photos and media, unless cited, have Creative Commons License or owned by the author, himself.
• Stone Age


  • Philippine islands probably formed 70MYA
  • Earliest people in the Philippines ~750,000 YA (Pleistocene Epoch)
  • Stone tools and fossils of large migrating animals such as elephants, stegodons, rhinoceros, and giant turtles found in Palawan and Cagayan Valley
  • Humans led a mobile existence, hunting and gathering, living in caves, and using fire and stone tools

  
• Lecture Outline


  • The Filipino People
  • Indigenous Knowledge (IK)
  • Threats to Indigenous Knowledge: The Case of Sarangani Province
• Filipinos from the Butuan were trading with Champa (Vietnam) and those from Ma-I (Mindoro) with China as noted in Chinese records containing several references to the Philippines
• Homo luzonensis


  Earliest people in the Philippines reported by Detroit et al. 2019, about 67000yo

  
• Useful References


  • National Commission for Culture and the Arts
  • Minsan sa Isang Taon (Kara David Documentary)
  • Glimpses: Peoples of the Philippines
  • Biocultural Diversity of Sarangani Province, Philippines: An Ethno-Ecological Analysis
• Ethnolinguistic Groups


  Groups in the Philippines with a common language, customs, traditions, and beliefs
• These archaeological findings indicated that regular trade relations between the Philippines, China and Vietnam had been well established from the 10th century to the 15th century A.D.
• Stone Age tools and weapons

  • Stone flakes
  • Methods of sawing and polishing stones around 40,000 B.C.
  • Adzes
  • Ornaments of seashells and pottery around 3,000 B.C.
  • Copper, bronze, iron, and gold metal tools and ornaments

  
• There are around 77 major ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines and within each group, there are several subgroups. The total number of ethnolinguistic groups, including the subgroups, in the Philippines is 244 according to a study in 1988 (Peralta, 2000).
• As early as Neolithic age, inhabitants were trading with other societies
• This map shows the geographical distribution of different ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines.

  
• Iron Age


  • Iron supplied by Chinese traders in exchange for forest products, gold, salt, beads, etc. and local blacksmiths processed iron for agriculture and household implements
  • No standardized manufacturing, small scale
  • No real iron age, only iron-utilizing societies beginning ca. 370 B.C
• Along with a common language, customs, traditions, and beliefs are among the major factors that unite every ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines. Due to long years of colonization, however, most ethnolinguistic groups in the archipelago have abandoned some of their cultural identities, including the rich knowledge possessed by their ancestors.
• Chalcolithic Age/Metal Age


  • Gold, bronze, brass and copper in the form of ornamental beads, and tools like adzes and spearheads
  • Bronze appeared only very briefly so there is no "Bronze Age"
  • Inhabitants learned to weave cotton, make glass ornaments, and cultivate lowland rice and dike fields
  • They also learned to build boats for trading purposes
• Evidence of a metal age in Southern Mindanao

  • Sagel Cave jar burial with an iron knife and a bead made from fossilised shell, dated ca. 500 BC – 500 AD
• Filipinos from the Butuan were trading with Champa (Vietnam) and those from Ma-I (Mindoro) with China as noted in Chinese records containing several references to the Philippines
• Items traded by the People of Ma-I and San-Hsu (Palawan)


  • bee wax
  • cotton
  • pearls
  • coconut heart mats
  • tortoise shell
  • medicinal betel nuts
  • panie cloth
• Regular trade relations between the Philippines, China and Vietnam had been well established from the 10th century to the 15th century A.D.
• Indigenous Peoples/ Indigenous Cultural Communities

  Groups that resisted Western influence and have preserved their cultural heritage
• Definition of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (from IPRA Law)

  • A group of people identified by self-ascription and ascription by others, who have continuously lived as organized community on communally bounded and defined territory
  • They share common bonds of language, customs, traditions and other distinctive cultural traits
  • They are historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of colonization, non-indigenous religions and cultures
  • Regarded as indigenous on account of their descent but could have been displaced from their traditional domains or who may have resettled outside their ancestral domains
• Items traded for by the People of Ma-I and San-Hsu (Palawan)


  • porcelain
  • leads fishnets sinker
  • colored glass beads
  • iron pots
  • iron needles
  • tin
• By this time, early Filipinos had a system of governance ('balangay' = gave birth to barangay) and paganistic beliefs and practices
• After decades of experience, combined with that of their ancestors, indigenous peoples harbor vast knowledge about their ecological environment, including the relationships that exist within their surroundings. These knowledge are untapped resources that, when utilized, can advance modern science and technology.