Content and Contextual Analysis of Selected Primary Sources in the Philippine History “THE MANUNGGUL JAR”

Manunggul Jar

is a secondary burial jar discovered in the Manunggul cave of the Tabon Caves at Lipuun Point in Palawan, dating from 890 to 710 B.C. The two imposing figures on the cover's top handle stand in for the soul's trip to the hereafter. The Manunggul Jar is regarded as a masterpiece and is widely regarded as one of the best pre-colonial Philippine artworks ever created. The National Museum of the Philippines has recognized it as item 64-MO-74 and has classified it as a national treasure. It is one of the most well-liked exhibitions at the Museum of the Filipino People, where it is currently housed. It is composed primarily of soil mixed with clay.

• The cultural treasure found in the early 1960’s in Manunggul Cave, Lipuun Point, Palawan is a secondary burial jar.
• The jar's upper portion and cover are etched with curvilinear scroll motifs and painted with natural iron or hematite. A boat with two human figures on top of the jar cover or lid represents two souls on their way to the afterlife. The boatman is seated behind a guy with his hands crossed across his chest. When arranging the corpse, the location of the hands is a traditional Filipino habit.
• The burial jar which is unrivaled in Southeast Asia and considered as the work of a master potter, signifies the belief of early Filipinos in life after death. It is dated to the late Neolithic Period, about 890-710 B.C.

Discovery of the Jar

Dr. Robert B. Fox and Miguel Antonio discovered the Manunggul Jar in 1962. It was discovered alongside the remains of Tabon Man. Dr. Fox discovered it in Chamber A of Manunggul Cave in Southwestern Palawan. Manunggul Cave is one of Lipuun Point's Tabon Caves. The Tabon Caves are known to be a location of jar burials with artifacts dating from 4250 to 2000 years ago. Chamber A is a burial site from the Late Neolithic period (890-710 BC). On the subsurface and surface of Chamber A, 78 jars and earthenwares, including the Manunggul Jar, were unearthed. Each artifact differed in style and form but were clearly forms of burial pottery.

 \n First Excavation and Response to Discovery

As previously stated, Dr. Robert Fox conducted the first dig that resulted in the discovery of this burial jar in 1964. He and his colleagues were excavating the Tabon Cave Complex, notably the Lipuun Point, at the time. It is still the most unique perspective in Fox's excavation. The inside of the jar is painted with red paint and includes human bones. The jar, like Egyptian burial practices, was discovered to be adorned with several bracelets.

Design of the Jar

The upper half of the Manunggul jar, as well as the cover, are carved with hematite-painted curvilinear scroll motifs. The painting of sea waves on the lid places this Manunggul jar in the ceramic tradition of the Sa Hunh civilisation. These are individuals who moved from Borneo-Palawan to Southern Vietnam in an east-west migration. The early Filipinos thought that a man was made up of a body, a life force known as ginhawa, and a kaluluwa.

This explains why the Manunggul Jar's cover shows three faces: the soul, the boatman, and the actual boat. The eyes and mouths of the figures and those on the prow of the boat are depicted in the same manner as other Southeast Asian objects from that time. The two people in the boat indicate two people traveling to the afterlife. While the boatman in front has his hands crossed across his chest, the boatman in back is clutching a steering paddle. Both the mast in the middle of the boat, against which the steersman would have braced his feet, and the steersman's oar's paddle are missing.When arranging the corpse, it is common practice in the Philippines to fold the hands of the front figure across the chest. An obvious illustration of a cultural connection between the archeological past and the ethnographic present is seen on the cover of Manunggul Jar. It also represents the ancient Filipinos' faith in an afterlife. \n \n \n