Collections of Artifacts and Antiques Philippines Jesson Chyd Matullano Cultura

The “Yawning” Jarlet of Leta-Leta Cave This jarlet, declared a National Cultural Treasure, is the earliest pot recovered in the country. It has a  distinct rim that resembles a shouting or yawning person, hence the name. Discovered by Dr. Robert Fox in Leta-Leta Cave, northern Palawan in 1965, this jarlet is associated to the Late Neolithic period (approximately 1000 to 1500 BC). It was excavated in a burial site where a stone adze as well as other intact pieces of pottery–including a stem cup and a footed jarlet, both of which are also declared national cultural treasures–were recovered.

The Callao Man In 2007, a group of archaeologists led by Dr. Armand Mijares of U.P. Diliman discovered a foot bone in Callao Cave  in the town of Peñablanca, Cagayan. The said skeletal remain–specifically the third metatarsal of the foot–is said to be “the earliest human fossil found in the Asia-Pacific region.” Based on a method called “uranium-series dating,” it was also revealed that the foot bone is approximately 67, 000 years old, predating the “Tabon Man”–long been thought to be the country’s earliest human remains–which is only 50,000 years old. The Callao Man, according to experts, possibly reached the island of Luzon from Indonesia by raft, which suggests that our ancestors already possessed “knowledge of seacraft-making in this early period.”  However, other experts believe that the Callao Man is probably just a species closely related to humans and was a product of an evolutionary process called “human speciation.”

The Laguna Copper Plate Inscription (LCI) Accidentally discovered in 1986 near the mouth of Lumbang River, the Laguna Copper Plate Inscription or LCI is the earliest historical document in the country and also the only pre-Spanish document discovered so far. Now a National Cultural Treasure, the LCI measures 7 x 12 inches when unrolled. In 1990, the National Museum purchased the LCI and sought help from Antoon Postma, a Dutch national who was then the director of the Mangyan Assistance and Research Center, to decipher the inscription. Postma, with the help of Dr. Johan de Casparis, later found out that the LCI was written in Kavi (Old Javanese writing system) and the language used was a combination of Old Tagalog, Old Javanese, Old Malay, and Sanskrit.

The Flying Elephant of Lena Shoal Another National Cultural Treasure, this blue-and-white dish with flying elephant design is one of only two pieces ever recovered  in the world. It was retrieved from the Lena Shoal wreck site in Palawan in 1997 through an underwater exploration project initiated by the Far Eastern Foundation for Nautical Archaeology (FEFNA) and the National Museum. Made during the Middle Ming Dynasty (ca. 1500), the porcelain dish was recovered from the wreck site of a Chinese trading vessel. It features black and brown specks in the paste as well as lotus scroll with pointed leaves on the rim. On its center, you can clearly see a dark-blue flying elephant design made even more dramatic by a background of stormy  and foamy waves.

The Manunggul Jar The Manunggul jar was only one of several stunning artifacts discovered in Chamber A, Manunggul Cave in Lipuun Point, Palawan by a group of archaeologists who investigated the site from 1962 to 1965. In addition to burial jars, they also recovered human remains covered in red paint and adorned with bracelets made of jade, shells, and stone beads. Measuring 66.5 x 51.5 cms, the Manungggul jar is actually a secondary burial jar used to store the bones of someone who was previously buried. The lid features a “spirit boat” or “ship of the dead” carrying two souls on a journey to the afterlife.