CHAPTER V

STONE
WORKS
INTRODUCTION
• Stone works is a term used in the workbook to mean any
structure built using stones as the main material.

• Stone wall is a kind of masonry construction which has

been made by man for thousand of years.
• Allup/Atul – a multi-pile stone wall that serves
primarily as permanent fence.

• Retaining walls are walls built in order to hold back

earth which would other wise move downwards.
RETAINING WALL (TOPENG)
• Stone wall construction is a method of building wall structures using
interlocking stones, soil and dead rocks as fillings or cement as mortars built at a
desired width and height.
 HISTORY OF THE STONE-WALLED IFUGAO RICE TERRACES

Lourdes Dulawan has scholarly traced and discussed the history of stonewalled
Ifugao Rice Terraces. She wrote: “through the years, researchers and
anthropologists have speculated on the age of the rice terraces. It has been the
subject of many theories by Beyer (1955), Keesing (1962), Lambrencht (1963),
Conclin (1983) and others.
• Rice terraces has started at the end of the 16th century or the beginning of
17th century when the early Ifugaos migrated from the Magat valley.
• The Ifugao pattern of land use in the natural physical environment where the
richer Ifugao valley could not possibly have reached the contemporary
configuration in less than four or five centuries (Conclin 1980).
Dulawan (2001) explain that the rice terraces are inseparable to
the Ifugaos who constructed them. Dulawan qoutes Wilson who
claims that:
• The rice terraces (of ifugao) are the most impressive scene in the
Philippines; the highlight of all its marvels. They surpassed in
wonder most of the man-made wonders of the world, such those of
the pyramids of Egypt. For while those were built by slaves to
glorify dead tyrants, the rice terraces were built by liberty-loving
men to support the living tree.
Dulawon further cites Max Soliven, a columnist for the Philippines
Star to emphasize on the significance of our heritage and identity
as people:
• The greatest achievement of our people are the rice terraces in the
Cordillera. Nothing the Christian Filipinos have erected can
compare wit these terraces. Even as one of the worlds wonder, it is
unique, for it is the only ancient monumental structured, first,
without central authority, second, without slave labor. It was, in
short, the work of a free society.
1. STONE WALL CONSTRUCTION
1.1 Purposes of stone wall construction.
1.1.1 Construction of terraces. In Ifugao during the early times, the primary
purpose of building stonewalls is to built terraces.

1.1.2 Construction of brass

dam (pfongpfong) and
irrigation canals to channel
water to the rice fields.
1.1.3 Construction of gohang/
liglig (descending canal).

1.1.4 Construction of afo’or

(burial tombs).
1.1.5 Levelling residential lots. When a native house is going to be built in
a sloping area, it is usually terraced to level the ground and stonewalls
are built to stabilize the soil.

1.1.6 Construction of roads. Stone walls are built with or without mortar
on road sides to stabilize the cut and fill portion of the roads.
• 1.1.7 Construction of Allop/Atul. It is a multipurpose multi-pile stone
wall about half to one meter wide and about 1-2 meters tall. Atul is
built purposely to serves fence for animals and at the same time
serves as boundary line between residential slots.
2.1 TYPES OF STONE WALLS (TOPENG/TUPING)
• 2.1.1. BASE OF FOUNDATION
a. Nehapfat. The boulders/rocks that are naturally in place are use as
foundation to prop up terraces.

b. Khinahhilang. This type of stone wall is anchored on soil and uses

pfintad or any large stones as foundation.
• 2.1.2. BASED ON LAYER

a. Single pile. Simple topeng –

single pile of stones per layer is
used in the construction of stone
wall.

b. Multi-pile. Allop/Atul - more than

one stone-wide pile per layer of
stones in placed in the stone wall.
• 2.1.3. BASED ON WALL INCLINATION AND CURVATURE

a. Vertical. The stone wall is about

90 from horizontal and is used only
for stone walls with low height.

b. Inclined. The stone wall from an

angle (about 65 or more but less
90) from horizontal and is usually
used for high stone wall.
a. Curve. The stone wall follows
the contour of the land.

b. Straight. The stone wall is

constructed following a straight
line and is applicable in flat
surfaces and short distances.
2.1.4. BASED ON LANDFILL “ACHUG”
a. Mapangar. It is a type of riprap using stone as fillers.

b. Matutuchan. It is a type of riprap using stones as fillers from

the bottom up to the middle part of a riprap and filled with soil
and water to transport the fillers until it reach the level of the
rice paddy.
a. Mela-ut. It is a type of riprap using pure soil as landfill that
came from the perimeter of the rice paddy.

b. Metabtab. It is a type of riprap that is carved in the slope of

land and therefore uses whatever material in the area as a
landfill.
3. TOOLS USED IN STONE WALL
CONSTRUCTION

3.1 INDIGENOUS TOOLS

• Indigenous tools used in the stone wall construction included
wooden materials shaped in to digging materials. While most of
the wooden digging tools are replaced by modern crowbar and
shovel.
 •Gaud is a carved wooden material
flattened at one end of about 6” wide
and 12” long and a cylindrical handle
similar to that of what is known a
shovel today.

•Bo-a/Boka/Huguit
(bfalechang-Mayaoyao)
/Hawil (Kalanguya) is a
pointed cylindrical
wooden similar to
crowbar used for
digging.
• Guyudan/guyuchan/gulud is a wooden vessel used to transport
soil/stone over rice field surface by pulling or pushing the vessel.
• Hangangaw is a hollow wooden container used to carry stones
manually.
• Laloh/bayu is a wooden
pestle used to compact fill
materials.

• Tolaloh is a hollow trunk

of trees (pfangi) utilized as
passage of water.
4. KINDS OF STONES AND PROPER USES.
• For durability a stone builder should consider the type and
quality of the stone to be used. Not any stone would do, and
not any shape would fit. The hardest stone with angular
shapes are preferred for stonewall construction.

• 4.1 River stone (Muleng)

 These are usually sedimentary rocks gathered from river or
stream that have been smoothened due to continuous rolling
through river and stream or results of sedimentation following
the shape of a mold form.
4.2 Blasted/ rocks (pfintad, piningping, pinhi')
• These are sharp and rough rocks, that have been blasted or
chiseled from rock boulders colored gray with fine grains.
Indigenous method of blasting rocks: A large rock is prepared so
that fire can be built on top and at the bottom. The underneath of the
rock is usually dug until enough space is uncovered to build a fire.
Strong fire is set on top of the rock and underneath simultaneously.
Strong fire should cause the rock to crack but in special cases, while
waiting for the rock to get extremely heated, adequate volume of water
is boiled, and pounded ginger is added, until boiling point. When the
stone is extremely heated, and did not crack, cooled boiled water is
suddenly poured into it to cause the big rock to rock into pieces.

For reshaping rounded rock and smooth surface rock, a big sledge
hammer or a bigger and harder stone is used to crush it to smaller
pieces.
4.3. SOFT OR DEAD STONE (PHULAGKHA)
• These are stone/rock that are brittle, soft and are easily smashed
or broken. They are usually used as fillers on the sides of the
formation layer instead of mere soil.
4.4 NATURAL AGGREGATE STONE (FUTTIGI)
• It is a stone with several kinds of stones inside a mother
stone.
4.5 SEDIMENTARY ROCK/STONE (CHORMOG)
• It is a stone made from clay that hardened due to the earth
pressure.
4.6. GANGEH.
• It refers to outer covering of stone or rock that is slowly decaying
and thus cracked into small pieces.

4.7. PENHAH.
• It refers to small pieces of phintad stones that can be used as
“unep” to fill in the gap in between boulders.
 5. LAYERS OF STONE WALL
5.1 FOUNDATION LAYER (POGNAD, DALINAT, GOPNAD)
• The foundation layer is the first layer of stone laid during stone wall
construction and where the main strength of the wall depends.

5.2. FORMATION LAYER (ARCHO)

•Formation layer is the layer of the stone wall from the ground
surface to the desired height of the stone wall.

5.3. TOP LAYER CAPPING (HONGCHAR), (BANONG), (TANANG-

KALANGUYA)
• This layer is the topmost layer of the stone wall. When this layer is
expected to serve as footpath, it is made of large and flat stones,
otherwise it is made of smaller stones or soil that can be planted
with some kind of vegetables.
6. STEPS IN STONE WALL CONSTRUCTION
• Depending on the purpose of stone wall construction, the steps
may slightly vary so that for terrace construction, it start with the
site location.

• 6.1 Stone wall materials preparation includes gathering of

enough stones from source and transporting them to the site.
Stones that are big enough to be carried with at least two flat sides
and one flat end are selected.
• 6.2 Site preparation includes the clearing of the sides from the
weeds and debris, and cutting the slope and/or digging the
foundation.
• 6.3 Foundation layer construction prepares the foundation
trench of about half meter or more which is dug out until the stable
part of the soil (pognad/pila) or bedrock is reached. The width of
the trench is dug wider if the foundation stones to be used are big
or multi-piled wall will be constructed.