By Rose Beatrix C. Angeles (Trixie Cruz-Angeles)
Sylvia Morningstar says that we, the Filipino people, are older than
our conquerors. I believe it. My favorite artifact -- emphasis on the ART -- is
the Manunggul Jar. Its a Neolithic Age, nearly complete burial jar found in the
Tabon Cave Complex in Palawan back in 1964.
Robert Fox describes it as follows:
"The burial jar with a cover featuring a ship-of-the-dead is
perhaps unrivalled in Southeast Asia; the work of an artist and master potter.
This vessel provides a clear example of a cultural link between the
archaeological past and the ethnographic present. The boatman is steering
rather than padding the "ship." The mast of the boat was not
recovered. Both figures appear to be wearing a band tied over the crown of the
head and under the jaw; a pattern still encountered in burial practices among
the indigenous peoples in Southern Philippines. The manner in which the hands
of the front figure are folded across the chest is also a widespread practice
in the Islands when arranging the corpse.
