THE PHILIPPINES IN ANCIENT TIMES

( 200,000 B.C. – 1300 A.D. )

Early Settlers

b. Cagayan Man or homo erectus

philippinensis – had several
characteristics as the Java man of
Indonesia and Peking man of China.
Tabon Man

In 1962, a skull cap of man was discovered in the Tabon Caves of

Palawan.
c. Ancestors of the Negritos –
( Aeta, Ati, Dumagat ) came to
the Philippines by crossing
the “ land bridges. ” They
come to the South, by way of
Palawan and Borneo. Negrito
migration occurred a little
later by way of Sulu and
Mindanao.
d. Austronesians – they
came to the Philippines
from Indochina and South
China . They had brown
skin, and an early stone
age culture.
Malays

According to Professor H. Otley Beyer, Malays migrated to the Philippines

and now constitute the largest portion of the population.
Economic Life

An ancient Filipinos practiced agriculture, which was the

main source of their sustenance. Rice, coconut, sugar cane,
cotton, banana, hemp, orange, and many kinds of fruits and
vegetables were raised.

Land cultivation was done in two ways :

The Kaingin system , the land was cleared by burning shrurbs

and bushes and the cleared land was then planted to crops.
The Tillage System , the land was plowed and harrowed, then
followed by planting.
Social Life NOBLES

composed of chiefs and

SOCIAL CLASS 1
their families, the early
society’s upper class
highly respected in the
community.

FREEMAN 2
DEPENDENTS
classified into Aliping
namamahay which had its own
regarded as the
house, serve his master by
society’s middle planting and harvesting his
3
class during the Master’s crops and the
ancient period of Sagigilid which had no house
the Philippine of his own, and live with his
master, and could not marry
history.
without the latter’s sent.
Dependants were classified
into three levels; First, as
full dependent, second as one
half dependent with one
parent dependent, and the
third semi-dependent with one
parent being one-half
dependent and the other free.
Women’s Position in Society

As a custom, women were the equal of men in ancient Filipino

society.

They could own and inherit property and sell it; they could
engaged in trade and industry; and they could succeed to
chieftainship in her community of barangay in the absence of
male heir.
Marriage Customs

Woman in one class should

married into the same
class. The noble married a
woman from a noble family,
freemen class married into
this class, and the man
from the lowest class
married into his own
class.
Mixed Marriages
The Government

● Barangay – the basic unit of the government, consisted of

30 to 100 families. It derives the Austronesian balangay.
● The Spaniards change the letter “l” to “r” and and
pronounced it barangay.
● It was ruled by the chieftain.
How a Law Was Made

The chieftain of a barangay made the laws of the community.

When he had in mind, he called in the council of the elders
to give their opinion. If the elder approved the proposed
law, the chieftain ordered the town crier, called umalohokan
to announce to the community the approval of the law.
Deciding Cases

Most of the disputes during the ancient times were decided peacefully. The
court of justice was composed of the chieftain as judge and the elders of the
barangay as members of the “ Jury.” The trial of the case was usually held in
public.
Trial by Ordeal
● The trial ordeal consisted of ordering the suspects, in the
case of theft, to dip their hands into a pot of boiling water.
The suspect whose hands was scalded the most was judged
guilty.
● Another form of trial ordeal was holding lighted candles by
the suspects and the candles died out first was the guilty
party.
● Another form of trial ordeal consisted of ordering the suspect
to plunged into the deep river with their lances, the one who
rises first was pronounce guilty.
● Another form is that ordering the suspect to chew uncooked
rice, the one whose saliva was thickest was the culprit.
Culture
CLOTHING
● Among ancient Filipinos, the male clothing consisted of
the upper and lower parts.
● The upper part was a jacket with short sleeves called “
Kangan. ”
● The lower part was called “ Bahag. ”
● The women was usually naked from the waist up. They wore
saya or skirt. Among the Visayans, the lower part was
called “ Patadyong.” A piece of white cloth or red cloth,
called “ Tapis ” was usually wrapped around the waist or
the chest.
 The ancient Filipinos wore
ORNAMENTS ornaments made of gold and precious
stones. Women as well as men wore
armlets called “ Kalumbiga ” ,
pendants, gold rings, earrings,
leglets, and bracelet.

The body was also adorned by

tattooing, including the face. The
women also tattooed their arms and
faces to make themselves beautiful.
Through this the Spanish
missionaries called the Visayan “
Pintados or painted people.”
 The Ancient houses was built of
HOUSES bamboo, wood and nipa palm. This
kind of house was suited to the
tropical climate of the country.
The house was set on the stakes
called “Haligi”, which were made
of bamboo. This is above the
ground, the lower of the house
was enclosed with stakes. Fowls
were place inside the enclosure.
At night or when the owner of the
house was not around, the ladder
was drawn up.
EDUCATION AND SYSTEM OF
WRITING
● There were no formal schools but children of school age
were taught on their own homes by their mothers who were
the first teachers
● Our ancestors possessed a system of writing called
Syllabary, baybayin or Alibata where every letter is
pronounce as a syllable. Syllabary consisted of seventeen
symbols, three of which are vowels and fourteen are
consonants.
Ealy Literature

Early Filipinos written literature :

● Northern Luzon – hudhud and alim, tells the story of gods

that resemble the Indian gods in the epic Ramayana.
● Ifugao - Aliguyon
● Ilocanos - Biag ni Lam-ang
● Bicolanos - Handiong
● Muslim - Bantugan, Indarapatra and Sulayman, Bidasari and
parang sabil.
Music
Filipinos are considered born musicians and will play two or
more instruments.

Native in Cebu, played such musical instruments as the

timbal, the cymbal, the drum and may others. They also
played the instrument called Kudyapi. Negros of Zambales and
Bataan played their favorite musical instrument called
Kullibaw that made in bamboo, the bansic flute made of
bamboo, and the gangsa a kind of guitar.

The Ilocanos had their musical instruments like kutibeng, a

sort of guitar with five strings; the flute and the kudyapi.
Dance

Their favourite dance were the Kinnallogong (hat dance);

Kinnotan (Ant dance).

Visayas favorite dances were the balitaw ( exchange of

extemporaneous love verses) Dandansoy (courtship dance).

Music and dance were classified into: Balatong, dalit,

lulay, kumintang, tagulaylay, subli, barimbaw, tagayan and
others.
The Arts

❖ The earliest Filipino works of art may be seen in their

tools and weapons.
❖ These tools and weapons were at first rough, but as this
time went on, the Filipinos began to polish them.
❖ Later, beads, amulets, bracelets and other ornaments were
used to improve their appearance. With the introduction
of bronze gongs, bells and even drums.
Religious Beliefs
● The prehistoric Filipinos believed that the soul was
immortal.
● They also believed in the life after death
● The ancient Filipino worshipped the sun and venerated the
moon, the animals and birds for they believed in the
interconnectedness of the unseen with the visible.
They believed in one Supreme being they called Bathalang Maykapal
or simply Bathala.

They also worshipped minor deities

Idiyanale - the god of Agriculture ;

Sidapa - the God of death;

Agni - the god of Fire;

Balangaw - the god of rainbow ;

Mandarangan - god of war ;

Lalahon - goddess of harvest ;

Siginarugan - the god of hell and many others.

Burial The ancient Filipinos
believed in the fire
hereafter and the
relationship between the
living and the dead, which
made them respect the memory
of the dead. The dead was
place in a coffin and buried
under his/her house , the
relatives placed her/his
cloth, gold and other
valuables in his coffin.