THE MANUNGGOL JAR

Manunggol Jar or the Spirit Jar or the Burial Jar was discovered in the early

1964’s. It is one of the numerous jars found in Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Point,

Quezon, Palawan. The upper portion of the jar, as well as the cover is incised with

curvilinear scroll designs and painted with natural iron or hematite. On top of the jar

cover or lid is a boat with two human figures representing two souls on a voyage to

the afterlife. The boatman is seated behind a figure whose hands are crossed on the

chest. The position of the hands is a traditional Filipino practice observed when

arranging the corpse.

The burial jar which is unrivaled in Southeast Asia and considered as the work of

a master potter, signifies the belief of early Filipinos in life after death. It is dated to

the late Neolithic Period, about 890-710 B.C.

Moreover, Manunggul Jar served as the transferring of the soul of a human after

death passing through the river. According to Michael Charleston B. Chua, there are

many cite and research around the Philippines that would tell us of how souls go to

the next life aboard boats, passing through the rivers and seas. The belief was very

much connected with the Austronesia belief in the anito. Our ancestors believed that

man is composed of the body, the life force called the ginhawa, and the kaluluwa

(soul). The kaluluwa, after death, can return to earth to exist in nature and guide their

descendants. This explained why the cover of the Manunggul jar featured three faces:

the soul, the boat driver, and of the boat itself. For them, even things from nature have

souls and lives of their own. That’s why our ancestors respected nature more than

those who thought that it can be used for the ends of man. 

In indigenous and precolonial beliefs, there is a connection with a body of

 water and the afterlife. In the Visayas, the Goddess Magwayen was said to be the

one who ferries the dead souls on her boat along Lalangban, a spiritual river, that

leads to Sulad, a purgatory of the afterlife, prior to the final destination, Saad, the

land of the ancestors.

As a secondary burial jar, the Manunngul Jar represents the importance of burial

practices and beliefs in the afterlife among early Filipin@’s. In the secondary burial

process the bones of the deceased were placed inside of a jar in a re-burial after the

corpse decomposed. The bones were cleaned, washed, then sometimes painted, before

being placed in the jar where it was eventually placed hidden in caves.

It is a symbol and archaeological evidence of the strong indigenous spirituality

and beliefs in precolonial Philippines. Not only does the Manunggul Jar provides

evidence of our early beliefs in the afterlife but also provides clues and evidence to

the precolonial societies in the islands of what is now known as the Philippines.

The Manunggul Burial Jar is currently housed in the Museum of the Filipino

People, by National Museum of the Philippines in Manila and was featured and

printed in the 1,000 peso bill.