L
Beneath the
orient
iving up to its name as the pearl of the orient seas,
the Philippines is a beautiful country which contains a lot of historic sites, tourist attractions, and most
importantly, a wide range of artifacts of fossils which
helped shape the history of the country. Despite the numerous events that occurred which almost tarnished the
name of the archipelago, the citizens managed to revive
the beauty of these treasures.
By dictionary definition, an artifact is an object that is
created by humans, especially for practical purposes. In
addition, it is a piece that remained from a particular
period.
One of the most famous artifacts that are displayed in
the National Museum of the
Philippines is the Baybayin or Rizal stone. It contains precolonial writings known as the baybayin that served as
the Filipinos’ first way of writing. It was found in Ticao,
Masbate and it was studied by professors from the University of the Philippines. It is a significant artifact for the
Filipinos because it was an object of proof that the Filipino society was already civilized before the reign of the
country’s previous colonizers.
Although the professors have clarified that the markings
on the stone were actually the baybayin script itself, several scholars are questioning its authenticity. A columnist
from Pilipino Express who stands by the name Paul Morrow stated that his first gut reaction is that it is not an ancient artifact. There are also several accounts that suggest that the inscriptions on the stone were just done by
a “modern hobbyist.” On the contrary, Dr. Francisco A.
Datar of the University of the Philippines Anthrology Department said that he believes it to be true because there
are no concrete examples which makes out the artifact to
be fake.
Once the authenticity of the Baybayin stone is verified, it
will be an important part of the Philippines. The content
of it itself will make the country’s history richer.
by: Chelsea Aguilar
The Baybayin stone is one of the most famous artifacts
that is placed inside the National Museum of the Philippines. It contains the baybayin script which thought out
to be a form of communication.
According to Merriam Webster, a fossil is a preserved
item from a past geologic age which are commonly
found underground. It also contributes to the history of
the Philippines. One of the many fossils that were already found in the country is the Callao fossil. It is a
metatarsal fossil that was gotten in the Callao Cave in
Cagayan by Dr. Armand Salvador Mijares in 2007. If
it is made out to prove the real remain of a man, it will
precede the time of the Tabon Fossils as it was found to
be at least 67 000 years old. Theories said that the
Callao man has migrated to the Philippines include the
possibility of travelling by a raft. The team of Mijares
plans to unearth a larger part of the Callao Cave to
discover more fossils that will prove the existence of the
Callao man. Similar to the situation of the baybayin
stone, if it is confirmed to be genuine, it will be a big
contribution to the history of the Filipinos which is important to each one of them.