ASCOT Library Zabali Campus

1 Introduction --
2 Sources of data --
Part I. questions and challenges --
3 Why prehistoric culture --
4 External intrusions --
5 Academic reinforcements:
I. Theories on racial origins --
6 Academic reinforcements:
II. Migration theory --
Part II. the setting --
7 Geological foundation --
8 Climate, flora, and fauna --
Part III. reconstructing the prehistoric culture --
9 Mythic phase [from the beginning of time] --
10 Formative phase [cultural developments, ca. 50,000-500 BC] --
11 Incipient phase [cultural developments, ca. 1st-14th centuries AD] --
12 Emergent phase [cultural developments, ca. 1st-14th centuries AD] --
13 Baranganic phase [cultural developments, ca. 14th-16th centuries AD] --
Part IV. achievements in civilization --
14 Core achievements --
15 Alternative perspective --
16 Conclusion: facing the challenge.

"Filipino prehistoric heritage is a culture preserved in artifacts, buried in the ground, and retrieved in fragments. It is in the human skull dug up in the inner chamber of a cave, stone stools be- side fossil bones of ancient animals, broken pieces of pottery on a hillside, metal implements in an abandoned settlement, drawings on the walls of a rock shelter, gold masks and pendants in the grave- yard, patinated carnelian beads and porcelain plates in a sunken ship....
Indeed, what these artifacts tell us are sketches of events long forgotten. What they portray is an incomplete picture. Nevertheless, these sketches and images are instructive. Collectively, they serve as concrete evidence of what our ancestors did and what they accomplished. They allow us to glimpse the past, however fragmentary this may be. To know the past is to acquire a sense of pride that our ancestors did not lack the wisdom and the resolve to carve a civilization out of the precarious prehistoric environment.
It is to our advantage to learn lessons from these wisdom, re- solve, and past experiences, if we are to secure the pathways of our current and future developments. The vision of the future must be rooted in the image of the past. It is the past that dignifies the present and gives the future its fundamental form and character. To be proud of the past is to be prepared to meet the contemporary challenge of progress-the challenge of moral commitment to nation building."
- F. LANDA JOCANO