National Museum Director Jeremy Barns signed on June 14, 2010 the official documents declaring 28 archaeological artifacts as National Cultural Treasures. The ceremonial signing is part of the opening of the Pamana: Heritage of a Nation exhibits at the N.M. Building in Padre Burgos St., Ermita, Manila. The artifacts comprise the exhibit Treasures of Archaeology. P.D. 374 and R.A. 10066 mandates the National Museum to recognize artifacts of outstanding scientific, cultural, artistic, and historical value either as National Cultural Treasures or Important Cultural Properties.
Curator Angel Bautista of the NM-Cultural Properties Division provided me background and provenance of the artifacts. They are:
1. Manunggul Jar (ca. 890-710 BC)
The jar was recovered in Chamber A, Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Point, Quezon, Palawan during the archaeological exploration by Dr. Robert Fox in the 1960s. It is a unique neolithic secondary-burial (used for skeletal remains). On top of the cover is a boat with two human figures that represent souls on a journey to the afterlife. The only burial jar of its kind in the Philippines.
2. Calatagan Ritual Pot (ca. 15th-16th century)
The pot was recovered near an archaeological site in Calatagan, Batangas by one of the laborers hired by former NM Asst. Director Alfredo Evangelista. It is a unique and atypical earthenwear with ancient syllabic inscription on the shoulder. The inscription is yet to be deciphered.
3. Maitum Anthropomorphic Burial Jar #13 (ca. 5 BC -370 AD)
The burial jar was recovered in Ayub (now Pinol) Cave, Pinol, Maitum, Sarangani Province. Inside the jar are tiny bone fragments and deciduous human teeth indicating that the jar was used for burial of a young individual. This is a unique and only intact anthropomorphic burial jar with two arms, nipples, navel, and a figure of a male sex organ on the body found in an archaeological context.
4. Maitum Quadrangular Burial Jar (ca. 5 BC – 370 AD)
The burial jar was recovered in Ayub (now Pinol) Cave, Pinol, Maitum, Sarangani Province. Inside the jar are bone fragments and human teeth. It has a curvilinear scroll design featuring a free-hand painting of Tree of Life and cloud motifs. This is the earliest record of cloud design on pottery.
5. Leta-Leta Jarlet with Yawning Mouth (ca. 1000 – 1500 BC)
The jarlet is one of the several intact pieces of pottery recovered by Dr. Robert Fox during his exploratory work in Leta-Leta Cave, Langen Island, El Nido, Palawan in 1965. It is an anthropomorphic vessel depicting a yawning mouth.
6. Leta-Leta Stem Cup (ca. 1000 – 1500 BC)
The cup is one of the several intact pieces of pottery recovered by Dr. Robert Fox during his exploratory work in Leta-Leta Cave, Langen Island, El Nido, Palawan in 1965. The unique cup is the only known earthenwear drinking vessel in the Philippines.
7. Leta-Leta Footed Jarlet (ca. 1000 – 1500 BC)
The cup is one of the several intact pieces of pottery recovered by Dr. Robert Fox during his exploratory work in Leta-Leta Cave, Langen Island, El Nido, Palawan in 1965. This unique cup is only one of its kind in the Philippines.
8. Leta-Leta Presentation Dish (ca. 1000 – 1500 BC)
The cup is one of the several intact pieces of pottery recovered by Dr. Robert Fox during his exploratory work in Leta-Leta Cave, Langen Island, El Nido, Palawan in 1965. This is the earliest type of presentation dish with lattice work (lace design).
9. Pandanan 14th Century Blue-and-White Porcelain Bowl (Early Ming Dynasty)
The bowl was recovered systematically in an underwater shipwrecked site off the Pandanan Island, Balabac, Palawan. Its design shows the qilin and a phoenix cavorting between lotus scrolls. The qilin is a horse or unicorn-like creature in Chinese mythology.
10. Lena Shoal Blue-and-White Dish with Flying Elephant (ca. 1500 AD, Middle Ming Dynasty)
Recovered in Lena Shoal wreck site, Palawan, the Elephant Dish is one of two pieces so far recovered in the world. Made of porcelain, on the central medallion is the flying elephant design painted in dark blue against a background of stormy and foaming waves. This is a rare representation of an elephant in early historic art.
11. Puerto Galera Blue-and-White Jar (ca. 14th to 17th Centuries, Ming Dynasty)
Recovered in Puerto Galera, Mindoro, this blue-and-white jar features ears, cloud collars at shoulder, human figures and floral designs around the body, and lotus lappet on the upper foot rim. It is a unique specimen associated with Swatow Wares.
12. Marinduque Celadon Jar (ca. 1280 – 1368 AD, Yuan Dynasty)
Collected in Marinduque, the Yuan celadon jar has a body embossed with Chinese dragon design which is one of the three only known of its kind in the world.
13. Palawan Zoomorphic Ear Pendant (ca. 500 BC – 500 AD)
Several ear pendants were found in Uyaw, Rito-Fabian, and Duyong Caves in Palawan by Dr. Robert Fox in the 1960s. This type of lingling-o is the double-headed pendant found in Duyong Cave, in the southwest coast of Palawan. This is the most distinctive jade ornament with zoomorphic design; and a superb and beautifully proportioned example of an ancient carving in jade.
14. Tabon Paleolithic Stone Tools (ca. 50,000 years ago)
The stone tools were recovered in the Old Stone Stage layer in the Tabon Cave, Palawan by Dr. Robert Fox in 1962. Made from chert, these tools were associated with the earliest human remains so far recovered in the Philippines. Most of the flake tools recovered in Tabon Cave were made from highly-selected stone materials like chert, a hard cryptocrystalline quartz.
15. Cabalwan Earliest Flake Tools (ca. 750,000 years ago)
Collected in Awidon Mesa Formation, Espinosa Locality 4, Solana, Cagayan, one flaked tool has a reworked edge while the other is a primary flake. These were recovered in the same lithology where fossils of prehistoric elephant and stegodont were also found.
16. Batangas Likha Figurines (ca. 15th – 16th century)
In Punta Buaya, Calatagan, Batangas, a burial site was found associated with grave furniture that could be traced back as early as the 14th century. The most significant artifacts recovered in this site were Likha stone figurines. “Likha” (meaning “Creature”) figurines are rare carved figures that may have been regarded as cult objects during pre-Colonial times.
17. Mataas Shell Scoop (ca. 1000 BC)
Shell scoops made from the body whorl of a turban snail (Turbo marmoratus) first appeared in the Late Neolithic Period. At the ealry phase of Philippine Prehistory, early inhabitants did not only use mollusks as source of food. Recovered in Cagraray Island, Albay, the Mataas shell spoon is a concave utensil with a sharp point at one end and a figure at the other end.
18. Duyong Shell Adze (ca. 4,630 + 250 BP or 2,680 years ago)
Manufactured from the hinge line of a giant clam (Tridacna gigas), the shell adze was found associated with a Neolithic burial assemblage in Duyong Cave, Quezon, Palawan. This shell tool is similar to the shell adzes recovered in Micronesia and Ryuku Islands in Okinawa, Japan. It could be the prototype of shell adzes found in the Pacific.
19. Tabon Skull Cap (ca. 16,000 years ago)
The skull cap was systematically retrieved by Dr. Robert Fox during the archaeological excavation at Tabon Cave, Lipuun Point, Quezon, Palawan in 1960. It is the earliest skull cap of modern man (Homo sapiens sapiens) recovered in the Philippines.
20. Tabon Mandible (ca. 30,000 years ago)
The skull cap was systematically retrieved by Dr. Robert Fox during the archaeological excavation at Tabon Cave, Lipuun Point, Quezon, Palawan in 1960. It is the earliest evidence of human remains showing archaic characteristics of the mandible and teeth dating to about 30,000 years ago.
21. Tabon Tibia Fragment (ca. 47,000 years ago)
The tibia (shin bone) was recovered in Tabon Cave during re-excavation in 2000. The bone was sent to the National Museum of Natural History (Paris, France) for a more detailed study. Accelerated carbon dating technique revealed a dating of 47,000 =-/ 11-10,000 years ago. To date, it is the earliest human remain belonging to modern man (Homo sapiens sapiens).
22. Bolinao Skull with Teeth Ornamentation (14th-15 century AD)
One of the significant information gathered in the archaeological excavation of Balingasay Site, Bolinao, Pangasinan is the beautiful and ornate method of decorating the teeth with gold. In this site, teeth with gold ornaments were found in 67 skulls that were associated with tradeware ceramics attributed to Early Ming Dynasty (ca. 15th century AD). One of the skulls is the renowned Bolinao Skull where gold scales were observed on the buccal surfaces of the upper and lower incisors and canines. The dental ornamentation consists of pegging with gold plates in fish scale design or pattern with gold wire rivets.
23. Seal of Captain-General Antonio Morga (ca. 1600 AD)
Collected by underwater archaeologists at the San Diego Wreck Site off the Fortune Island, Nasugbu, Batangas, this gold seal is composed of an oval on which a heraldic devise has been engraved in the negative. It is the only one in the world.
24. Oton Death Mask (ca. 14th to Early 15th century AD)
Collected in Oton, Iloilo, it is the first gold death mask recovered systematically by archaeologists, a rare piece.
25. Butuan Paleograph (ca. 1000 AD)
Found among burial coffins in Butuan, it is the only one of its kind, rare and still undeciphered. It presents 22 units of writing on a silver strip similar to a Javanese script that had been used from the 12th to the 15th centuries AD. The characters display a Hindu-Buddhist influence, probably the earliest in the Philippines.
26. Laguna Copper Plate (ca. 900 AD)
Discovered in the delta of Pagsanjan River, Laguna in 1986, the Laguna Copper Plate has ten lines of small script characters that are impressed on one side. This rare artifact was studied by Dr. Anton Postma and Dr. Johannes de Casparis. According to them, the main language of the copper plate is an old Malay but the text is sprinkled with Sanskrit, old Javanese, and old Tagalog terms.
27. San Diego Astrolabe (ca. 1600 AD)
Collected in the San Diego Wreck Site off the Fortune Island, Nasugbu, Batangas, the Astrolabe consists of a bronze disc, a ring at the top by which they are suspended, and a counter weight of the bottom to stabilize them. It is one of the two known existing astrolabes in the world.
28. Banton Burial Cloth (ca. 13th – 14th century AD)
Two pieces of Banton Cloth were found assoicated with coffin burial by former NM Asst. Director Alfredo Evangelista during his exploratory work in Banton Island, Romblon. It is considered as the oldest textile in the Philippines and associated with Yuan ceramic tradeware.
29. Balangay I or Butuan Boat I (ca. 320 AD)
Balangay I is one of several balangays recovered in the vicinities of Butuan City, Agusan del Norte and dates back to 320 AD. These boats are related to the evidences of the remains of a prehistoric village where gold industry has been discovered. The boat-building technology indicates the use of native fiber cabo negro and wooden dowels to pull together the wooden planks. The boat was declared National Cultural Treasure in 1987 by Pres. Corazon Aquino.
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