Archaeological Dating

Chinese Porcelain

Is the most popular since more archaeological sites have contained trade porcelains than have not, but it is sometimes subject to questionable identification.

Recovered archeological evidences in the selected Excavated sites in the Philippines

• Samar – 14th to 15th century porcelain, early two 12th century plates, and 500 year old porcelain is buried in the grave.

• Sta. Ana, Manila – Sung Dynasty porcelain in the 200 graves in 1960

• Basilan - a large burial jar from Ming Dynasty• Manila excavation- recovered non datable

pieces earlier than the reign of Emperor Hung Chih in the late settlement of Rajah Sulayman’s city.

Porcelain Period in the Philippines

“We all know that the Philippines is China’s inherent territory and the Philippines belongs to Chinese sovereignty, this is an indisputable fact,” - May 7, 2012; He Jia, anchor for China

Central Television’s (CCTV)

• Trade between China and the Philippines probably started centuries before the advent of the Sung Dynasty.

• The "A Collection of Data in Chinese Classical Books Regarding the Philippines" was published by the Institute of Southeast Asian History of Zhongsan (Sun Yat Sen) University, Guangzhou (1900)

• It states: “During the T’ang (Thang) dynasty China (in the 7th to the 9th century AD) the two peoples of China and the Philippines already had relatively close relations and material as well as cultural exchanges.”

During the Sung (960-1127 AD), Arab traders brought Philippine goods to southwestern China through the port of Canton.

Chinese posts were established in coastal towns of the Philippines with the import of Chinese goods.

The trade culminated when Chao Ju-Kua wrote of the barter trade between the Chinese and the natives of Mayi (Mindoro).

The Chinese exchanged silk, porcelain, colored glass, beads and iron ware for hemp cloth, tortoise shells, pearls and yellow wax of the Filipinos.

• The Chinese became the dominant traders in the 12th and 13th centuries during the Sung Dynaasty (960-1279 AD).

• The shift in the commerce between China and Southeast Asia saw Butuan send a tribute mission to the Sung emperor.

• The Chinese notice of Luzon appears to have instigated a new round of tributary missions in the early fifteenth century by Luzon, Pangasinan, and a polity known as Mao-li-wu [possibly Ma-i on Mindoro].

• In addition to Mindoro and Sulu, the following other Philippine islands have been pretty certainly identified as mentioned in the Chinese records: Palawan, Kalamian (now Culion), Busuanga, Penon de Coron, Lubang, Luzon (probably Manila Bay region and south coast), Masbate, Bohol (?), Leyte.

• Many other names which must apply to Philippine localities are used by the Chinese writers, but none of these have been identified with any degree of certainty. Some of them are spoken of as dependencies of Ma-i, and others of Sulu or Bruni. Leyte is called Si-lung, but no description of it has yet been found. This is also the case with most of the other islands except Sulu, Palawan, Luzon and the Kalamian group.

DATING METHODS

A process of estimating the age of ancient materials and deposits remains.or determining a chronology

or calendar of events in the history of Earth.

Absolute methods - methods rely on using some physical property of an object or sample to calculate

its age. Relative methods - or indirect methods tend to use

associations built from the archaeological body of knowledge.

ABSOLUTE METHOD• Radiocarbon dating - for dating organic materials (Maximum 40,000 years

old)• Dendrochronology - for dating trees, and objects made from wood, but also

very important for calibrating radiocarbon dates• Thermoluminescence dating - for dating inorganic material including ceramics• Optically or optical dating for archaeological applications• Potassium–argon dating - for dating fossilized hominid remains• Archaeomagnetic dating - Clay lined fire hearths take on a magnetic moment

pointing to the North Pole each time they are fired and then cool. The position of the North Pole for the last time the fire hearth was used can be determined and compared to charts of known locations and dates

• Lead Corrosion Dating.• Amino acid dating• Obsidian hydration dating - a geochemical method of determining age in

either absolute or relative terms of an artifact made of obsidian• Rehydroxylation dating - for dating ceramic materials

Radiocarbon Dating or Carbon-14

Is based on an objective scientific technique applied in radiochemical laboratories and therefore provides more exact dating, but is sparingly used because of it’s expense.

Stratification and Association

Relationship of the objects recovered for dating by either of the other two methods.

Other Methods

BARANGANIC PHASE(Cultural Development)

ca. AD 14th – 16th Centuries

• Last phase in the development of Filipino pre-colonial society and culture.

• It represented the florescence of indigenous culture growth before the colonizers came and stopped its momentum as well as changed the course of its development

• smallest socio-political unit, composed of 30-100 household

STATUS OF BARANGAY

If the ancient barangay consisted of 30 households, as it often said, how was it able to develop a well-defined and well-stratified social class system: datu, maharlika, timawa, alipin (saguiguilid and namamahay)?

How many people constituted each class if there were only 30 households?

BARANGAY AS STATE

State a clearly defined territory large aggregate of people a government sovereignity common herritage

Large aggregate of peopleAccording to encomienda census in 1604

Source: Lorca, pp 30-115

Cebu 3,500

Baybay, Leyte 15,000

Panay 20,000

Pangasinan 4,000

Cagayan River 3,000

Vitis 7,000

Calonpit 3,000

PasigVahi Laguna

2,0002,500

Government

• Datu acted as legislator, judge, arbiter, mediator, and leader in war

• Despite of absence of centralized bureaucracy, the barangay as a whole functioned as the protector of the community

Sovereignity

• No one belonging to another barangay would cultivate the land until ownership was established or permission to cultivate was granted by the barangay head - Plasencia

Common Heritage

• All barangays traced their heritage to the founding families or groups of families.

• In fact, the term barangay was derived from the boat called balanghau, which the people believed to have carried them from their place of origin to the place where they settled.

BARANGAY SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

DATUSHIP- being datu or maginoo is based on descent and personal charisma

SANDUGO- alliance forged through blood brotherhood. It is also forged through marriage between the datu families of adjacent barangays

• A datu who had influence over the other datus was called pangulo (head or leader)