Archaeological and historical insights into the ecological impacts of pre-colonial and colonial introductions into the Philippine Archipelago

Abstract

The tropical forests of the Philippine Archipelago are some of the most threatened in the 21st century. Among the most prominent threats are the introduction of new plant and animal species, as well as new forms of land management (e.g. plantations), that have accompanied industrial expansion. Such threats have a potentially long-term history and prehistory in the Philippines, not just as a consequence of Spanish colonial administration and land-use changes from the 16th century, but also in the context of pre-colonial introductions of rice agriculture and domesticated animals. However, the impacts of such arrivals on local Philippine societies and ecologies have remained relatively unexplored, especially in comparison to contemporary exchanges between Europe and the Neotropics. Here, we evaluate archaeological and historical evidence for the integration of novel plants, animals and economic strategies into local Philippine cultures and economies from 4000 years ago to the 19th century AD. This includes material culture, archaeozoological and archaeobotanical analysis, as well as archival references to pre- and post-colonial urban settlements, the evolution of land management and rural settlements across the Archipelago. We argue that prehistoric land-use changes, as well as the colonial introduction of crops and domesticated animals, represent a potentially interesting contrast to other tropical regions that came under Spanish imperial control between the 15th and 19th centuries. Nevertheless, to determine the full extent of their impacts on social organisation and Philippine landscapes more detailed, long-term multidisciplinary investigation is required.

Anthropogenic impacts on Late Holocene land-cover change and floristic biodiversity loss in tropical southeastern Asia

“…Our study feeds into a growing body of work that demonstrates that southeastern Asia is a crucial region for determining the degree to which past human land-use and economy changes (e.g., the arrival of rice agriculture, the spread of domesticated animals such as pigs and water buffalo and, later, the extension of metallurgy) had impacts on tropical forest vegetation cover (14,47). Today, human impacts on tropical forests are seen as a key part of the Anthropocene (10,20), with local and regional changes in forest cover impacting soils, carbon storage, temperature, and rainfall through earth systems feedback mechanisms.…”

A local discourse on the early belief system from the Philippines using evidence from the Guthe Collection | Isang diskursong lokal sa sinaunang kosmolohiya sa Pilipinas gamit ang Guthe Collection

“…Tenazas (1974Tenazas ( , 1982 recovered an animal figurine she interpreted as a calf or young carabao found in a jar burial complex in Magsuhot, the same jar burial assemblage where the appliqued chicken motifs on jar burial covers were found. Although water buffalo remains have been documented in the Philippines (Amano et al 2020), as motifs, they have limited distribution. Research on water buffalo motifs will further enrich our understanding of past cosmologies considering that they represent the Middleworld (Löffler 2002(Löffler [1968).…”

“…Bird/chicken motifs were infrequent compared to the sun motif prior to the 10 th century AD. Similarly, chicken bones are rare in the archaeological record of the Philippines (Amano et al 2020). The actual bird and its body parts such as the skull, beak, and feathers could had been used as observed in ethnohistorical accounts among highland groups in Luzon.…”

Sustaining angiosperms’ diversity of Bood Promontory and Eco-Park, Butuan City, Philippines: Step towards a community based-protection management program

“…& Hook, f.) with a local name "Hadlayati," reddish hue which attracts the fireflies. This tree will glow during the night and was said to play an important role in the findings of place by Ferdinand Magellan, as claimed by the local historians (Amano et al 2020). The term "bood" means "hill" in the Butuanon dialect.…”