Pre-Colonial Period

The Negritos
were a primitive people with a culture belonging to the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic).
lived permanently in the archipelago and became the first inhabitants.
smallest peoples on earth. They are below five feet in height, with black skin, dark kinky hair round
black eyes, and flat noses. Because of their black color and short stature, they were called Negritos
(little black people) by the Spanish colonizers. In the Philippines they are known as Aeta, Ati, or Ita.

They wandered in the forests and lived by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild fruits and roots.
Their homes were temporary sheds made of jungle leaves and branches of trees.
They wore little clothing
They had no community in live, hence they developed no government, writing, literature, arts, and
sciences.
They made fire by rubbing two dry sticks together to give them warmth. They had no pottery and
never cooked their food.
they were among they were among the world's best archers, being skilled in the use of the bow and
arrow.

The Indonesians
First Sea-Immigrants.
Indonesian culture was more advanced than that of the Negritos
New Stone Age (Neolithic)
lived in grass-covered homes with wooden frames, built above the ground or on top of trees.
They practiced dry agriculture and raised upland rice, taro (gabi), and other food crops.
Their clothing was made from beaten bark and decorated with fine designs.
They cooked their food in bamboo tubes, for they knew nothing of pottery.
Their other occupations were hunting and fishing.
they were a tall people, with height ranging from 5 feet 6 inches to 6 feet 2 inches.
The Malays
Exodus of the Malays to the Pacific World.
were the first discoveries and colonizers of the Pacific world.
Columbus and Magellan, they were already expert navigators
They came in three main migratory waves.
200 B.C. to 100A.D.
The Malays who came in this wave were the headhunting Malays, the ancestors of the Bontoks,
Ilongots, Kalingas, and other headhunting tribes in northern Luzon.
100 A.D. to 13th century
Those who came in this migratory wave were the alphabet-using Malays, the ancestors of the
Visayans, Tagalogs, Ilocanos, Bicolanos, Kapampangans, and other Christian Filipinos.
14th to 16th century
The Muslim Malays were in this migratory wave and they introduced Islam into the Philippines.

Daring and liberty-loving

belonged to the brown race.
They were medium in height and slender in physique, bur were hardy and supple.
They had brown complexion, with straight black hair, dark brown eyes, and flat noses.
the Malays were more advanced than the Negritos and the Indonesians, for they possessed the Iron
Age culture.
They introduced into the Philippines both lowland and highland methods of rice cultivation, including

the system of irrigation; the domestication of animals (dogs, fowls, and carabaos);
the manufacture of metal tools and weapons; pottery and weaving; and the Malayan heritage
(government, law, religion, writing, arts, sciences, and customs).
They tattooed their bodies and chewed betelnuts.
They wore dresses of woven fabrics and ornamented themselves with jewels of gold, pearls, beads,
glass, and colored stones.
Their weapons consisted of bows and arrows, spears, bolos, daggers, krises (swords), sumpits
(blowguns), shields and armors made of animal hide and hardwood, and lantakas (bronze cannons).

The group of “Indones” people arrived next. There were two groups of Indones who arrived after the
Negritos. The first group of Indones came from the South-East Asian part of the Continent and they
are fair in complexion, well-built in body size, deep-shaped eyes, and pointed nose. They are a bit
more civilized compared to the Negritos for they know how to build foundations of their homes, or up
in the trees. They know how to make weapons such as bows and arrows. They also know how to fish
and make charcoals that they use to cook their food.
The second group of Indones people who arrived were different from the first group. They have
darker complexions, round body-built, thick lips, round shape eyes and crooked nose. They are more
productive, creative, and prospered more compared to the first group for they have lived near the
coast and later transferred to the mountains.
The third and last group who lived in the country before the Spaniards came were the Malays. The
Malays came to the islands in their “Balangays” referred to their big boats. They are the most civilized
among the three groups who came to the country. The Malays have their own language, the form of
government and society classification. Their Chief often referred to as “Datu” is the leader of the
Balangay or the entire one tribe. They have the “maharlika” or the noble class, “timawa” or the free
people and “alipin” or the slave classes of society.
 A. SOCIETY
1. Mode of Dressing
Pintados (Visayan)
- Because of their extensively tattooed bodies,
the early Spanish settlers in the Visayas dubbed
the locals Pintados, or "painted ones."
- Every third week of March, the Pintados
Festival is celebrated in the Municipality of Passi
in Iloilo.
Baro or camisa
- jacket for women that had sleeves
Kanggan
- males wore kanggan, a collarless jacket with
short sleeves that fell just below the waist. The
rank of the wearer was signified by the color of
the kanggan. People of lower status wore black
or blue, while the chief wore red.
Putong
- was a type of headwear worn by both sexes. A
piece of fabric had been tied around the head.
Once more, the putong's hue showed how many
people the owner has slain. If it was red, one
person was killed. You had murdered at least 7
people if it had been woven.
Bahag
- is to conceal the male's private parts. It is
wrapped around the waist after covering the
male organs to keep it from coming off.
2. Ornaments
(These are the key artifacts from the BSP Pre-
colonial gold collection are on display by the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to shed light on a
magnificent past and lineage that all Filipinos
can be proud of.)

3. Houses
Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut)
- Bahay Kubo was built to withstand the nation's
normal tropical weather. The Hut's simple
construction utilizes local materials like nipa and
bamboo.
4. Social Classes
The classes were divided into four:
Maginoo (Noble Class)
- The Datu, the head of a barangay with 100–
500 residents, is one example of a royal blooded
Maginoo.
Timawa (freeman or commoner)
- They are granted the right to own property,
work at any job, choose their own brides, and
keep a slave.
Maharlika (warrior)
- are regarded as fierce barangay fighters or
warriors.
- provide protection to the community, but
doesn’t pay taxes and possess the identical
privileges as the Timawa.
Alipin (servant)
- Aliping Namamahay (have private apartments
on their master's property, the freedom to select
their spouse, the ability to own property, and
payment for their labor.) and Aliping
Namamahay (have no house, therefore they live
with their master, are allowed to be sold by their
masters, perform services with no payment, and
are unable to be married without their master's
consent.)

5. Status of Women
- men and women were treated equally
- had the right to own land, participate in trade
and serve as village chieftain if there was no
male successor.
- High priestesses and healers who were women
were also respected and powerful (known as
babaylans or catalonans)
- had the legal authority to divorce their spouses.

C. ECONOMIC LIFE
2. Lumbering and Shipbuilding

3. Weaving

4. Trade

D. CULTURE
1. Languages

2. System of Writing

3. Literature

4. Music and Dance

5. Art