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Tansô: Tracing Brass in the Philippines Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) containing other elements, including arsenic, lead, phosphorus, aluminum, manganese, and silicon. It is a metal material significant to various ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines for its durability and workability and is one of the earliest metals to appear in the Philippines. A brass needle was found alongside some flake tools, shells, human bones, pottery, beads, and other artifacts and was assumed to be the remains of early hunters and gatherers. The whole assemblage dates from approximately 4500 B.C. to recently. It was found in Musang Cave, a limestone cave located in the western foothills of the Sierra Madre in the municipality of Peñablanca in northern Luzon. According to Barbara Thiel, the site is very important. It contains some of the earliest dated pottery across the archipelago and the earliest dated metal, the brass needle, possibly as old as 2680 B.C.
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Northeast Luzon and the location of Musang Cave1
1Thiel, "Excavations at Musang Cave,”
The interaction and exchanges were strengthened further with seamanship, a skill particular to coastal dwellers6. This allowed furthering the inter-island exchange and the movements of communities that soon enabled the development of long-distance international trade. Metals were among the commodities of trade, particularly precious metals. The 1974 discovery of archeological materials in Butuan City in Agusan del Norte initiated the many thorough excavations and investigations from 1975-1986 that suggest mining and processing of metals by early inhabitants of the Philippines. The nine balangay boats uncovered in Butuan sites date between the 10th and 13th century CE7. The material culture obtained from these sites was coffins, human bones, porcelain items, pottery, gold and gold ornaments, metal ornaments, and tools8. Archeological and historical data suggest that some of the tools excavated may have been used for working on gold and metals.
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The evidence of metals used as tools signifies various changes in the populations residing on the islands of the Philippines. Through the use of metal tools, prehistoric communities were able to develop their way of life, signifying structure and growth2 The community life was influenced by, and responded to the primary factor—nature3, and as members of the communities grow in number, this required larger settling areas. Some settlements were located beside bodies of water. Residing on the coasts and rivers eased trade and travel. Interactions with other communities emerged, and according to renowned anthropologist Felipe Landa Jocano, in the incipient phase or as some authorities refer to as the Metal Age 500 B.C.E4 artifacts, became prevalent and their typologies gradually became similar, indicating exchanges between communities. Alongside this, the growing communities’ socio-political complexities arose5.
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2 "Early Metal Age - Philippines," History Learning Website, accessed February 7, 2022, https://historylearning.com/history-of-the-philippines/pre-history/early-metal-age/. 3John Pike, "Metal Age Philippines -500 BC-AD 1000," GlobalSecurity.org, last modified 3, 2012, https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/philippines/history-metal-age.html. 4 Noel Amano et al., "Archaeological and historical insights into the ecological impacts of pre-colonial and colonial introductions into the Philippine Archipelago," The Holocene, 2020, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959683620941152. 5Amano, "Archaeological and historical insights ," 6Ramon N. Villegas, Art of a golden age (Manila: National Commission for Culture and Arts Committee, 1999) 7"Did You Know? The Butuan Archaeological Sites and the Role of the Philippines in the Maritime Silk Roads, " UNESCO | Building Peace in the Minds of Men and Women, accessed February 13, 2022, https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/did-you-know-butuan-archaeological-sites-and-role-philippines-maritime-silk-roads. 8Roderick Stead and E. Dizon, "A National Cultural Treasure Revisited – Re-assessing the ‘Balangay’ Boat Discoveries, " (n.d.), http://www.themua.org/collections/files/original/b5e6dd5b719abb0e76df4d99f6ae6c2a.pdf.
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Second vessel found in 1977. About 14 meters long and has a C14 date of 1250 CE +/- 90 years9
According to Malcolm W. Mintz in the Monograph 1: The Philippines at the Turn of the Sixteenth Century, when the Spanish arrived in Masbate in 1567, they found working mines operating but were subsequently abandoned as it has become uneconomical to maintain and use. Nevertheless, evidence of several mines suggests that the demand for metals in trades was growing. Most of the historical data on mines focuses on the more precious ones, particularly gold. However, Mintz mentions that high-quality gold was a commodity subject to protracted negotiations. As a result, there was a monetary incentive to pass off other metals, such as brass, for gold. Mintz adds that gold could be mixed with other metals so skillfully that it is almost undetectable. Even though there were mentions of brass being one of the early metals found and worked on in the Philippines, there were limitations in seeing if it was among the metals that were being actively mined. Many metals occur in the same rock formations as gold, and the various alloys of copper found among these formations were not identifiable in some historical records. According to the British Museum in documentations, the terms bronze and brass have been used interchangeably, and copper alloy is usually the broad term for both. With works or objects that are metal or metalcrafts, the Philippines has a very substantial metal casting and blacksmithing tradition. These traditions across the archipelagos are unique to every ethnolinguistic group. Some records argue that before the 15th century, brass casting traditions century might have began in Sulu10. There were existing early
9Stead and Dizon, "A National Cultural Treasure Revisited – Re-assessing the ‘Balangay’ Boat Discoveries," 10Abdulmari Imao, Alice G. Guillermo, and Monica Felicia P. Consing, s.v. "Metalcraft," in CP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art Digital Edition (Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2018), accessed February 12, 2022, https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/3/15/2107/.
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brasswares found about 16 kilometers from the town of Jolo which consisted of kettles, betel-nut containers, mortar and pestle for betel nut, weapon handles, gongs, and saddle footrests11. According to Elmer L. Palahang in his masteral thesis entitled The Case of a Vanishing Craft: A Survey of the Decorative and Industrial Arts of the Maranao, since there was little evidence available on brass mining, some brass materials were probably sourced through trade and exchanges from China, Borneo, Siam, and other Asian countries. Not only did some studies suggest that brass was sourced from elsewhere in Asia, but also some brass casting traditions too. By the 16th century, the people of Brunei had been casting fine brass cannons. Ethnolinguistic groups from southern Mindanao may have learned the casting process through interactions with them. This is further supported by evidence of encounters between southern Mindanao settlers and Spanish incomers being apprehended with brass cannons mounted on swivels12.
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A brass Lantaka from the Sulu Archipelago in Jolo Island. No associated date except for the year of Accession. From the Philippine Collection at the Field Museum13
11 Imao, Guillermo, and Consing, "Metalcraft." 12Elmer L. Palahang, "The Case of a Vanishing Craft: A Survey of the Decorative and Industrial Arts of the Maranao " (master's thesis, Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology , 2009). 13The Field Museum Chicago, "253031, Cannon," , n.d.https://philippines.fieldmuseum.org/heritage/catalogue/1161230.
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Brass has become widely used in tools, weapons, ornamentation, decorations, containers, and utilitarian items in the Philippines. The traditions of casting and forging this metal developed highly technical processes and have produced the most intricate pieces of work or objects. Tracing the materiality of pieces shows how populations interact with their environment. This provides evidence of how this mastery of materials and resourcefulness lead to the development and changes of each culture. The Nayong Pilipino Foundation houses a comprehensive collection of brass artifacts which includes personal ornaments, weapons, musical instruments, domestic items, and ritual pieces. In showing these pieces we hope that we can contribute to providing additional testaments to the dynamics and constant developments in cultures and traditions and that we open dialogues and exchanges on the importance of tangible and intangible heritage.
Amano, Noel, Greg Bankoff, David Max Findley, Grace Barretto-Tesoro, and Patrick Rob erts."Archaeological and historical insights into the ecological impacts of pre-colonial and colonial introductions into the Philippine Archipelago." The Holocene, 2020. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959683620941152. Burton, Linda M. "Settlement and Burial Sites in Butuan City: A Preliminary Report." Phil ippine Studies 25, no. 1 (1977), 95-112. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42632370. "Did You Know? The Butuan Archaeological Sites and the Role of the Philippines in the Maritime Silk Roads." UNESCO | Building Peace in the Minds of Men and Women. Accessed February 13, 2022. https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/ did-you-know-butuan-archaeological-sites-and-role-philip pines-maritime-silk-roads. "Early Metal Age - Philippines." History Learning Website. Accessed February 7, 2022. https://historylearning.com/history-of-the-philippines/pre-history/early-metal-age/. The Field Museum Chicago. "253031, Cannon." n.d. Philippine Heritage Collection. https://philippines.fieldmuseum.org/heritage/catalogue/1161230. Imao, Abdulmari, Alice G. Guillermo, and Monica Felicia P. Consing. "Metalcraft." In CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art Digital Edition. Cultural Center of the Philippines, 2018. Accessed February 12, 2022. https://epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph/3/15/2107/. Mintz, Malcolm W. "Intersections: The Philippines at the Turn of the Sixteenth Century." Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific, Gender and Cultural Studies, School of Culture, History, and Language, College of Asia and the PacificThe Australian National University. Last modified February 1, 2021. https://intersec tions.anu.edu.au/monograph1/mintz_introduction.html. Palahang, Elmer L. "The Case of a Vanishing Craft: A Survey of the Decorative and Indus trial Arts of the Maranao." Master's thesis, Mindanao State University- Iligan Institute of Technology, 2009. Pike, John. "Metal Age Philippines - 500 BC-AD 1000." GlobalSecurity.org. Last modified 3, 2012.https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/philippines/history-metalage.htm. Stead, Roderick, and E. Dizon. "A National Cultural Treasure Revisited – Re-assessing the ‘Balangay’ Boat Discoveries." (n.d.). http://www.themua.org/collections/files/origi nal/b5e6dd5b719abb0e76df4d99f6ae6c2a.pdf. Thiel, Barbara. "Austronesian Origins and Expansion: The Philippine Archeological Data." Asian Perspectives 26, no. 1 (1984), 119-129. Thiel, Barbara. "Excavations at Musang Cave, Northeast Luzon, Philippines." Asian Per spectives 28, no. 1 (1988), 61-81. https://www.jstor.org/stable/42928189. Villegas, Ramon N. Art of a golden age. Manila: National Commission for Culture and Arts Com
mittee, 1999.
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Bibliography
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