Cultural achievements of pre-colonial Philippines
The historian William Henry Scott also noted that pre-colonial Visayan farmers neither knew the plow nor the carabao before the arrival of the Spaniards while the anthropologist Robert B.
[25][26] Similarly, the building of the rice terraces of the Cordilleras started around 1650 and coincided with the arrival of the Spaniards in northern Luzon; this notion is supported by archeological evidence collected from five major sites (Old Kiangan Village, Hapao, Nagacadan, Batad, and Banaue) by the Ifugao Archeological Project,[27] thus falsifying the previously accepted notion that the rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras have a 2000-year-old origin.
The people did not see the need to resort to cutting into virgin woodland each time but due to the balance between the population and the available land available to them, reuse of previously abandoned swidden areas which underwent forest regeneration was possible.
[29] The most intimate weapon wielded by pre-colonial inhabitants of the Philippines was the balaraw, a dagger with a double-edged leaf-shaped blade and a cross-shaped hilt which at times was used as a protection against wrist cuts.
The Bornean arquebus called astinggal (etymologically derived from Malay istinggar, ultimately from Portuguese espingarda[37]) was also known by the pre-colonial Filipinos, however the Spaniards never faced any in their encounters in Luzon as they did in Mindanao.
[39] While historical and archeological evidences suggest that the pre-colonial inhabitants of the Philippines were a metal-using people, they did not possess the metallurgical knowledge of locally forging war cannons.
[40] The archeological researcher Eusebio Dizon noted that the pre-colonial Filipinos were capable of forging the small cannons, called lantakas, although they are not used for warfare but as ornaments for interior decoration.
As far as current archeological data is concerned, pre-colonial Filipinos were not capable of founding the heavy European-style cannons used in sixteenth-century warfare.
[41] Despite this, lantakas did find a place in Philippine warfare, as witnessed for example by the soldiers of Juan de Salcedo during the conquest of Luzon.
[42] Early chroniclers, who came during the first Spanish expeditions to the islands noted the proficiency of some of the natives, especially the chieftain and local kings, in Sanskrit, Old Javanese, Old Malay, and several other languages.
[49] Some historians proposed that they also had regular contacts with the people of Western Micronesia due to it being the only area in the Oceania that had rice crops, tuba (fermented coconut sap), and a tradition of betel nut chewing when the first Europeans arrived there.
[49] Magellan's chronicler, Antonio Pigafetta, mentioned that merchants and ambassadors from all surrounding areas came to pay tribute to the king of Sugbu (Cebu) for the purpose of trade.
[49] People from the region enjoyed extensive trade contacts and immigration with other cultures, such as Indians, Arabs, Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Thais, Malaysians, and Indonesians.
[58]: 308 Gold was plentiful enough that local elites did not feel the need to acquire large amounts of it, and only sought it as the need arose, by trading with settlements which produced it through low intensity mining.
The ancient people of the Philippines had a rich tradition of pottery as verified by the finds at Ayub Cave in South Cotabato and other parts of the islands.
The Tokiko, for example, referred to the Rusun and Namban jars as Ru-sun tsukuru or Lu-sung ch'i (in Chinese), which mean simply "made in Luzon.
"[49] These Rusun jars, which had rokuru (wheel mark), were said to be more precious than gold because of their ability to act as tea canisters and enhance the fermentation process.
[63][68][69] The oldest surviving textile in the entire Southeast Asian region was found in the Philippine island of Banton in Romblon province.
[70] Examples of various textile types in the Philippines are the brocaded weave (pinilian) of the Ilocano, the wavy designs of the Bontoc, the geometric designs of the Kalinga, the piña of the Aklanon, the hablon of the Kiniray-a and Hiligaynon, the seputangan of the Yakan, the mabal tabih of the Blaan, the bagobo inabal of the Bagobo Manobo, the dagmay of the Mandaya, the mëranaw of the Maranao, the pis syabit of the Tausug, and the t'nala of the T'boli.
[79] The practice of abortion and infanticide was widespread in pre-colonial Visayas, as it was considered a disgrace to raise a large family, presumably because having many children usually result to poverty.
[82] Unlike Visayans, the ancient Tagalogs prefer to raise large families, as evidenced by the numerous superstitions that encouraged fertility and the survival of infants.
