The Philippine Prehistory

While pre-Spanish Filipinos did not have formal schools, they were taught reading and writing in their homes. The children of school age were taught in their homes by their mother, who, in the Filipino homes even today, were the first teachers. The fathers trained their sons to be warriors, hunters and fishermen.

There are more than a hundred languages and dialects that exist in the country today. Of these, eight are considered major languages, namely:

o Sugbuhanon (cebuano)o Tagalogo Ilokoo Pangasinan

Hiligaynon (ilonggo) Kapangpangan Magindanaw Samarnon (waray-waray)

They are sister-languages and belong to one family of languages called Austronesian or Malayo-Polynesian.

When the Spaniards set foot on Philippine soil, they found the Filipinos writing in their native syllabary or alphabet. The philippine alphabet is called syllabary because every letter is pronounced as a syllable. The tagalog script was called baybayin, sometimes erroneously called alibata. It considered of three vowels and fourteen consonants, whith a total of 17 letters. The writing system was horizontal, from left to right.

They also had literature that may be classified into written or oral. Among the tagalogs, the oral literature consisted of :

o Sabi (maxims)o Bugtong (riddles)o Talindaw (boat song)o Tagumpay (victory song)o Uyayi and Hele (cradle song)o Ihiman (wedding song)o Kumintang (war song)

Filipinos have also written literature.

Place Literature

Ifugao Hudhud and Alim

Ilokanos Biag ni Lam-ang

Bicolanos Handiong

Muslims Bantugan, Indaraptra and Sulayman, Bidasari, Parang

Sabil

Filipinos are considered born musicians. They play several musical instruments although they have not studied music formally. The natives of cebu played instruments made of bamboo and wood like a stringed instrument called the kudyapi. Among the Negritos of Zambales and Bataan, the favorite musical instrument were the bansic, a sort of a flute and the gangsa, a kind of guitar.

The Ilocanos have their musical instrument like the kutibeng, a sort of guitar with five strings; the flute ; and the kudyapi. They also dances. Among the bisayans, the favorite were the balitaw and dandansoy. The ancient Filipinos from all regions had dances and songs for all occasions.

Bansik

Gangsa

Kudyapi

Kutibeng

The art of the earliest Filipinos may be seen in their tools and weapons. These tools were at first rough, but as time went on, the Filipinos began to polish them. Later, beads, amulets, bracelets and other ornaments were used to improve their appearance.

Accessories of Early Filipinos

The pre-Spanish Filipinos practiced agriculture, which was the main source of livelihood. They also practiced irrigation. They increased their crop production by irrigating ditches. This is proven by the rice terraces in Banawe. Aside from agriculture, they went into such industries such as fishing, mining, shipbuilding, poultry, stock-raising, lumbering and weaving. Mining was another important industry. Gold is obtained from rivers and in some places, from mines, which the native work.

Shipbuilding and lumbering were thriving industries. The filipino shipbuilders built all kinds of boats for travel, war, and commerce. Domestic and foreign trade existed long before the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines. Domestic commerce between barangays and islands was carried on through the waterways.

On the other hand, foreign trade was carried on with countries like China, Japan, Siam (Thailand), Cambodia, Sumatra, Borneo, Java, and other islands of Malaysia. Because currency was not in use, the pre-Spanish Filipinos used the barter system in their commercial transactions. The Chinese traders testified that the Filipinos were honest and paid their debts to the traders even after many months had passed.