Prehistoric Burialsin Calubcub, Segundo

by Cecilio G. Salcedo

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A reprint of the Archaeologi-cal Paper No. 4 of the National Museum, Philippines, September 1979

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Map of the Philippines

The San Juan, Batangas Archaeo-logical project is part of the Anthro-pology Division's Salvage Archaeo-logy Program. This program in-tends to systematically retrieve cul-tural artifacts from sites which arein danger of being totally destroy-ed either by natural or contrivedprocesses.

The site in Calubcub Segundowas first reported by the son ofthe present owner and administra-tor of the land after a number ofearthenware pots surfaced from theground being plowed. Humanskeletal remains were also acciden-tally encountered by some of thetenants while erecting house posts.These developments eventually ledto a formal contract signing be-tween Mr. Ambrosio Makalintal Jr.,the son of the lot owner, and theNational Museum, represented byAssistant Director Alfredo Evange-lista and Atty. Francisco Villa-nueva. After a series of delibera-tions, the first batch of researcherswas sent out to look into the mat-ter. This was mid-October of 1976.

The Province

The whole province of Batangasis elevated, with the land slopingdown towards Cavite on the Northand towards the West, Southwestand South coasts. Although theregion is characterized by highlandsand generously dotted with hills,the province's highest peak is only1,109 meters high.

Climate

It has two types of climate. Theregion west of an imaginary linerunning Northwest/Southwest,from the foothills of Mt. Malipungonear the Batangas-Quezon bounda-ry to Mt. Pinamuson, falls underType A climate. There are two pro-nounced seasons: dry from Novem-ber to April, wet during the rest ofthe year. The region east of thisline falls under the B type of cli-mate. Seasons are not very pro-nounced: relatively dry fromNovember to April and wet duringthe rest of the year. The provincehas an annual average of 85.66inches of rain and 112 rainy days.Frequency of typhoons is the samethroughout the entire province.About 16% of the typhoons whichtouch the country yearly passthrough this province (Phil. Al-manac: 1975).

Soil type is predominantly volca-nic tuff which is characterized byrelatively deep soil and rather softbedrock. It has a texture thatranges from sandy loam to clayloam which is good for uplandcrops such as citrus orchard. (Phil.Almanac: 1975).

Agricultural Products

Other major food crops, asidefrom rice, are fruits, nuts, andvegetables. Fruits include oranges,mangoes, calamansi, bananas, avo-cados, chicos, lanzones, pineappleand atis.. The province is also a major producer of cash crops likecassava, cacao, coffee, and peanutsand commercial crops like sugar-cane, coconuts, and tobacco. Thecattle population in 1960 was thebiggest in the country, while thetotal livestock was one of the tenbiggest. (Phil. Almanac: 1975).

The entire length of the Batangascoast, especially the Balayan Bay,Tayabas Bay and Verde Island Pas-sage, is a very rich fishing ground.Additional fish sources are 585,360hectares of fish ponds. Still availa-ble for more productive venturesare 3,739 hectares of swamp lands.(Phil. Almanac: 1975).

The municipality of San Juan,where the site is located, has a population of 49,000 as of 1975.It is classified as a second classmunicipality. It is best known forits fishing industry as well as coco-nut derivative industries like copraand coconut wine.

Previous Excavation

Though Batangas province hasproven to be one of the most im-portant archaeological areas yet dis-covered in the Philippines, no sys-tematic excavation made in thegeneral area of San Juan .has beenmentioned. Beyer in his "OutlineReview of Philippine Archaeology"talked about a Batangas Archaeolo-gical Survey which lasted for nearlya decade (1932-1941). This includ-ed Cuenca, Alitagtag, Taal, SanLuis, Bauan, San Jose, Lipa, Cala-tagan and Tanauan.

Assistant Director Alfredo Evan-gelista and Mr. Rey Santiago ofthe National Museum conducted aninitial exploration and test trench-ing of the area last April 1975. Theycame up with cultural materialsranging from earthenware potteryto Chinese porcelain sherds. Thelatter showing up only as surfacefinds. It was through their recom-mendations that the project materia-lized.

The same site was then excavat-ed by Mr. Manuel Gonzales of theAteneo de Manila University usinggrant-in-aid money from the R.T.Villanueva Foundation Inc. In May1976. He uncovered culturalmaterials such as earthenware pot-tery and beads. This particular digwas performed in the banks of thedried-up river just a hundred metersaway from the Makalintal residence.The writer intended to incorporateMr. Gonzales report in his work butunfortunately only a brief state-ment of his finds was available.

PHILIPPINES

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The Site

Calubcub Segundo is one of theten barrios situated south of themunicipality of San Juan. It is ap-proximately twelve kilometers fromthe town proper and is situatedclose to the shores of Tayabas Bay.It is bounded on the North by thebarrio of Calubcub Primero, on theSouth by the barrio of Nagsaulay,on the East by sugarcane fields andon the West by the vast stretch ofTayabas Bay.

From San Juan, Calubcub can bereached by a passenger jeepney thatnegotiates the twelve kilometer partasphalt, part dirt feeder road in for-ty minutes. Being a dirt road, it isdusty during dry summer monthsand a quagmire during the rainyseason.

At present, the primary occupa-tion of the roughly 97 householdthat lie within the Makalintal pro-perty is fishing. Next to fishing iscultivation of sugarcane and coco-nuts. Rice farming used to be anold and extensive occupationamong the barrio folks until a SugarCentral was established; hence therice fields were converted to sugar-cane fields. A number are alsoengaged in the breeding of animalssuch as cattle but this number is

negligible. An important supple-ment to a family's income is thepopular home industry of distillingnative coconut wine more common-ly known as "lambanog".

The National Museum Excavation

The Makalintal property in thebarrio of Calubcub Segundo coversan area of 42 hectares, 12 of whichstretch along the coast of Taya-bas Bay. The diggings are specifi-cally situated southeast, and laterextended to the northeast of theMakalintal residence.

So far, the extent of the exca-vation shows the area to containtwo burial sites: one exhibitingprimary inhumation, the otherdisplaying secondary inhumationthrough burial jars.

The First Phase

The initial phase of excavationswas conducted in November, 1976.Two grid patterns were laid out inthe site. The first grid system, de-signated CB-1, was a 14 x 16 meter-area planted to coconuts. The se-cond, CB-2, covered 20 x 15 metersof untended grassland. Both gridswere located close to the shores ofTayabas Bay. (The Marine FieldStation was used as the main datumpoint as shown in sketch at the right.)These grids were further dividedinto 2 x 2 meter squares to makethem appear like a checker board.

The condition of the soil posedsome problems to the excavators.The walls of the squares erodedeasily especially after the soil hadbeen exposed to the sun. The samething happened to the skeletal re-mains. To remedy this, the ex-cavators built some lean-tos to pro-vide some amount of shade to bothlaborers and the soil.

Four graves were unearthed ingrid CB-1. Each had an averagedepth of 60 centimeters. Theirgrave furniture consisted of nativeearthenware pots, an earthenwarestove and glass beads. Some netweights were also found but theywere not associated with the burials.All the skeletal remains were foundin supine position but with varyingorientations. Three were pointingtowards the southwest; one was

facing the west.

In grid CB-2, a similar soil con-dition was found. Balks in-betweenadjoining squares were used in ad-dition to the lean-tos to preventsudden erosion of the soil. Thisparticular grid yielded six graves, allhaving local earthenware pots with-out design as grave furniture. Twograves were oriented towards thenortheast and four towards thesouthwest. Of the skeletons foundin the six graves, two exhibitedcomplete teeth-filling.

After the initial phase of excava-tions, the excavators hypothesizedthat the site could be chronologi-cally classified as Late Metal Age.The ten burials displayed a consis-tency in their cultural materialcontent: earthenware pots, earthen-ware stoves and glass beads. Beyondthe one meter-deep range levelwhere most of the graves were de-posited, material belonging to a different cultural period was dis-tinctly absent. Test trenches wereopened up at strategic areas andwere purposely made to reach thethree meter level to cast put doubtsthat another cultural level mightaccidentally show up. Only twosoil levels were identified: thehumus or top soil, mainly loosesand that went down to some 10 to12 centimeters from the surface,

The Excavated Portion Scale - 1: 175,000

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and the next layer of slightly com-pact sand that stretched to threemeters below the surface which isalready the water level.

The Excavations in December

The second phase of the ex-cavations carried out in Decemberraised some questions about thedating of the site. Six more graves,bringing the total dug to 16, wereunearthed in the two grids, CB-3and CB-4, opened up. They yieldedcultural materials similar to thosefound in the earlier excavationsplus a Chinese tradeware, a crack-led-glaze Celadon bowl. The pro-celain material was found in situ along wi th five earthenware pots.

The doubt that the celadon f indhad cast on the hypothesis regard-ing the dating of the site warrantedthe third phase of excavations. Itbecame necessary to ascertainwhether that celadon bowl was in-trusive or not: if it was not, the siteshould then be classifed underContact Period. A careful evalua-t ion of the quanti ty and frequencyof porcelain remains was also re-quired.

The Third Excavation Period

Further excavations were there-

Grave 4 with associated materials of stove and pots

fore aimed at systematically diggingfor archaeological remains to shedlight on the porcelain found in oneof the areas suspected to date asfar back as the Metal Age. Theyshowed that the celadon bowl wasnot at all intrusive. Chinese trade-ware sherds were present up to a depth of 80 cm. below the surface.

An open-air jar burial site was

Grave 2 furniture included celadon bowl and earthenware pot

also discovered. Although the sitewas small, it was very significantsince most of the materials boredifferent patterns and methods ofdesign. Its importance was high-lighted by the unearthing of a largequantity of glass beads. Most of thejars were found wi th in the 20 to40 cms. level. Beyond this, no tra-ces of other cultural level was ap-parent. Porcelain, either in wholepieces or sherds, were absent fromthe 5 to 80 cms. level.

Two grids were opened up duringthe third phase of excavations. Thefirst, CB-5, measured 20 x 20meters and the other, CB-6,26 x 24.Roughly 52 squares comprisedthese grids. Grid CB-6 need to bechecked for qualitative and quan-titative purposes. Addit ional exca-vations should be done to come upwith valid and substantial data.The only problem which wouldlikely hinder such operations wouldbe the negative reaction of the lotowners since, this time, the areasto be excavated lie exactly wi th inthe perimeters of their yards andgardens.

Findings

Grids CB-1 to CB-4

(Contact Period Site)

All the earthenware potteries re-covered from these grids were glo-

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San Juan, Batangas earthenware pottery forms and decorations.

bular in form; the majority exhibit-ed short everted rims. They were un-slipped with the majority exhibitingdistinct traces of soot at the bot-tom and shoulders. No pottery bear-ing incised, impressed, applied oreven painted designs was found. Allthe pottery materials were retrievedin a vertical position with the majo-rity set at an upright position.

A number of opaque and tran-slucent yellow as well as clear glassbeads were recovered from the area.Two minute gold leaves were alsofound in association with twoburials.

Apart from the skeletons foundin graves 1, 2, and 10, the rest hadall their major bones present. Theseincluded cranium, mandible, clavi-cle, scapula, sternum, humurus,ribs, vertebrae, ulna radius, inno-minate bone, carpal bones, pha-langes, femur, tibia, fibula and tar-sal bones. The poor condition ofsuch bones and the surrounding soilprecluded the proper raising of theskeleton or parts of the skeletonwithin blocks of containing earth.Fragmented bits and pieces of thecrania, femur and some number ofteeth for each burial were the onlyitems that were "salvageable". Theburials were all primary inhumationand the majority followed the east/west orientation.

Grids CB-5 and CB-6(Probable Lage Metal Age).

All six burials unearthed fromthis area indicated secondary burial,that is only the bones were placedinside the jars which were subse-quently reburied. However, theywere just partial secondary burialsince only portions of the bones ofthe deceased were stored in the jars.Five of the jars showed multiple

Other pottery forms and decorations

secondary burials for bones of morethan an individual were found in-side. On two occasions, brokenpieces (earthenware sherds) seemedto have been positioned at the out-er rims and shoulders of the jars toreinforce their walls.

All the six burials jars were inthe vertical position when un-earthed. They were plain and hadrounded bottoms. The covers origi-nally used for the earthenware jars,as gleaned from the sherds andother fragments, were also made oflocal clay. However, the disintegrat-ed condition of such covers, exceptfor one, precluded the determina-tion of their original shapes.

The burial jars recovered general-ly contained fragments of humanskeletal remains along with a num-ber of yellow and translucentglass beads. After intensive screen-ing, using a 1/4 inch mess, noother material trace was encoun-tered. Neither evidence of crema-tion nor the presence of extendedburials lying within the range of thejar burials was noted.

Interpretations3

All the burial jars and potteryunearthed at the site are poorly-fired local earthenware. They are offine clay tempered with coarse

Jar forms

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particles. The method of firingemployed in their manufacture ispossibly open-firing, a method com-monly practiced by the early andpresent-day Filipino potters.

The presence of soot in a numberof pots could have been due totheir other functional use as a funerary items. It, too, may wellhave been the result of- "food pre-paration during rituals" probablyperformed at the time of intern-ment of a burial jar (Fox 1970:74).

The data gathered at this site in-dicate specific similarities with theother previously reported jar burialsites in the archipelago (Batanes,Sorsogon, Marinduque, Mindoro,Masbate, Samar, Palawan and Basi-lan). The Butong, Batangas finds,to date, are the closest to theCalubcub Segundo artifacts.

Evaluation of PotteryDecorations

The finds in Grids CB-5 and CB-6differ greatly from those in the ear-lier grids in terms of form. Thepottery materials in the former arepossibly contemporaneous with theCalatagan type of Fox. One thing iscertain though; the changes in formevolved from compfex to simple.The wide range of elaborated decorwas phased out through time withlater pieces showing no trace ofdecoration. The earlier pieces con-tain elaborated designs and aremostly ritual vessels. The later onesare mostly functional vessels whereclear traces of soot are evident. Thisindicates a degeneration in the qua-lity of Philippine pottery possiblydue to the introduction of foreigntradeware, specifically those fromChina. These changes could actual-ly be the result of assimilation oftwo cultures when the less domi-nant tends to absorb the culturetraits of the more dominant. Moreoften, this results in the formal andfunctional atrophy of the nativeculture traits of the less dominantculture.

Of the sixteen graves unearthed,twelve had their heads positionedto their left sides. The majority ofthe bodies follow the east/westorientation. At times, this is con-sidered valuable information espe-cially in determining whether a

cemetery is pre-Christian or not;nonetheless it sometimes leads tomisinterpretations. Hence at themoment, the excavators intend towith old their assumptions on thistopic.

The report is only preliminary,based on the initial finds at the site.A study of the quantity of thematerials obtained and will still beobtained will require many moremonths of work by the researchteam.

Footnotes1 Table 1 contains the description

of the graves.2 The inferred technique of manu-

facture of the potteries is ap-parently the same as that used bylocal potters today. Solheimdescribes this: "after the initialhollowing out of a lump ofmoist clay, the rim was probablyformed by pressure between wetfingers or a damp fabric whilethe vessel was being turned onsome form of slow wheel. Whenthe rim was finished, and hardenough from drying to retainits shape, the vessel was probablyheld in the hand and the body

Graves 1 and 2 demonstrate a

probable case of decapitation as suggested by the absence of major bones.

formed by paddle and anvil, thusdoing away with the necessaryflat bottom present while thevessel was on a slow wheel.Carved and smooth paddles wereused, with most pots smoothedby using a smooth paddle or a damp fabrics"

3 A total of sixteen graves is notsufficient to come up with a sound basis for any theory onmorphological relationships. Itis difficult to deduce from a limited number of specimens,more especially graves. Le GrosClark (1975) has criticized theover confidence of earlier anthro-polgists who were often pre-pared to draw far too many con-clusions from a single specimen.Singer (1958), in a critique ofthe Boskop skull which he hasdiscovered in 1913 in a Transvaalfarm, points out that what mayhave been justifiable speculationat the beginning of the century isinexcusable now.

Even the sexing of fossil hu-man remains appears to be farmore difficult than was previous-ly imagined, as Genoves (1954)has emphasized in his study ofNeanderthal remains. This is notto say that a single find is value-less. Certainly in the case ofPaleolithic remains, each bonedemands rigorous examinationand description. In later man,where it is necessary to study lessoutstanding differences betweengroups, a series of at least 40 or50 skeletons of the same sex isneeded before reliable statisticalanalyses can be made. Thus, ifonly one or two dated skeletonsare excavated, sex, age, diseaseand measurement may be notedbut deductions as to the mor-phological affinities of these in-dividuals with other people ofthe period could only be verytentative, if they are possible atall. The value of reports on oneor two skeletons is not to serveas the basis of any theory ofmorphological relationships, butto provide standardized datawhich may eventually be builtinto a general picture of popu-lation at one period through

time.Continued on page 48