Notes on place names in Zambales and Pampanga

In various parts of the world, we come across a type of sacred geography that views geographical locations as corresponding to the body parts of a deity or deities.

Among Hindus, for example, the Sakta-pithas are considered sacred pilgrimage sites that each correspond with a specific body part of the goddess Sakti. The Buddhists have a similar system.

In the regions of Zambales and Pampanga in the Philippines that have been of major focus in this blog, there are some indications of a similar type of sacred geography. The town known as Betis, once the largest population center in Luzon but now absorbed into the municipality of Lubao, was originally known as Bitis, for example by Gov. Francisco de Sande in 1576. The latter word means "foot" in the local Kapampangan language.

Bitis is in fact located at the foothills of Mt. Pinatubo where the elevation begins to rise from the flat plains of Pampanga. Therefore, the name might indicate the foot or bottom of the mountain. Another nearby district of Lubao is known as Pasbul, which means "gate" possibly indicating this area was a thoroughfare to the mountain area.

Taking into account the common Austronesian practice of quadripartite division, there are some indications that this general area may have been conceived of as consisting of four "bodies." From Bitis toward the South, there are two placenames indicating parts near the top of the body. At the southern end of the Zambales range, of which Mt. Pinatubo is a part, sits Olongapo, the name derived from the Ulo ng Apo "Head of the Lord/Elder." To the southeast, across the Manila Bay and at the southern end of pampang-style agricultural system that runs from Lower Pampanga and through Bulacan is the ancient city of Tondo.

Tondo is believed to be derived from the Kapampangan word tundun which means "nape" or "back of the neck."

So from Bitis at the feet of the mountains of Pinatubo and Arayat going southwest, you have Olongapo "Head of the Lord," along the coast of Subic Bay, and to the southeast Tondo "Back of the Neck" along the Manila Bay.

Now in the opposite direction from Bitis are again the mountains of Pinatubo to the northwest and Arayat to the northeast. This area around the mountains is generally considered "central" as the directional word paralaya "toward Arayat" for "East" indicates. The Kapampangan word for "North" is ulu or pang-ulu. The ulu in this name is related to the ulo in "Ulo ng Apo" above with both words derived from Proto-Austronesian *ulu "head."

In Kapampangan the meaning of "head" for ulu and pangulu has been lost and the words now mean either "North" or "headwater," i.e. the origin of a river or stream. However, when the words were originally derived to indicate "North," ulu and pangulu still may have retained at least a secondary meaning of "head." Thus, the northern direction would have been associated with some place to the north that was thought of again in terms of the "head" body part.

So, there were four bodies in this hypothesis, all with their feet coming together in Bitis. The two bodies extending to the north had their central parts located apart at the east and west in Mts. Arayat and Pinatubo respectively with the heads again coming together in the north i.e. ulu or pangulu. The top parts of the two bodies extending to the South were Olongapo and Tondo both locations offering access to the open sea through the Subic and Manila bays respectively.

Now, the midsection of the southern bodies is also possibly indicated by a secondary directional system associated with the winds and used by fishermen. In this system, "South" is indicated by the word malaut "on the sea," while "North" is balas or "sand" meaning the type of sand common in the estuarine areas of Lower Pampanga. The south wind is also known as kalautan indicating the wind blowing off the ocean. This would indicate that this southern "center" was located along the northern beach line of the Pampanga Bay, probably at the mouth of the Pampanga River. The names for the directions "southwest" or abagat, the wind that blows in the high tide, and for south-by-southeast or ikat-aldo panlaut "sunrise by the sea" also strengthen this location of the southern center.


Click image for larger version

If this suggested sacred geography is correct, we can only guess at what bodies may have been suggested by the ancients. Possibly the two northern bodies could have been those of the deities Apung Mallari and Apung Sinukuan, associated with Mts. Pinatubo and Arayat respectively, but sufficient clues are lacking.

That the ancient peoples in this region may have seen their country as a type of the world in microcosm may be seen in their making Pinatubo and Arayat as the homes of the Moon and Sun respectively. As skilled mariners, they knew that the perceptions of the rising and setting luminaries was relative and could be expanded to all locations. Therefore the four bodies of the country could represent a smaller version of the four corners of the world in Austronesian quadripartite thinking.


Land of sacred earth and pottery

The region of Zambales (Sambali) and Pampanga were linked with the sacred earth of the volcanoes, and the pottery made from this earth I have suggested in this blog.

Many place names link up with these two themes. Joel Pabustan Mallari has noted that the capitals of Zambales and of Bataan to the south (where Olongapo is located) both have names that denote ancient types of pots i.e., Iba and Balanga respectively. Iba is also the former name of a village in Mabalacat near the Pampanga-Zambales border.

Pottery-making continues to this day in locations like Apalit in Pampanga, Calumpit in Bulacan, Victoria in Tarlac and San Leonardo in Nueva Ecija. However, older testimony indicates that pottery-making was once more widespread.

Many geographical names or terms indicate features or resources connected with the earth and soil. For example, as already mentioned, one term for the northern direction is balas, which means simply "sand" with a secondary connotation of sand specifically associated with estuarine areas. Diego Bergaño in the 18th century mentions a type of ancient earthenware known as balasini which he describes as:

"Loza antigua, que parece está hendida, no lo estando: hay poco, ya." ('Ancient earthenware, it appears to crack, no longer made: very few are left.')

-- Diego Bergaño (1732), Vocabulario de la lengua Pampangan en romance.

The word balasini may be derived from balas, and indeed modern potters still use balas-type sand as a temper in making certain types of pots. These antique wares that were still present in Bergaño's time may be related to the valuable earthenware Ruson-tsubo that were traded to Japan in earlier times.

Mallari mentions a number of places that appear to indicate some link with ancient quarrying:

Balas (sand) common name for barangays in Bacolor, Mexico and Concepcion; Sapangbato (lake of stones) in Angeles; Mabatu-batu (rocky) in [S]an Francisco, Magalang; Banlic (sand or mud after a flood) in Cabalantian, Bacolor; Planas (coral stones) in Porac.

The name Porac itself has a difficult etymology. It could be related to purac "pandan tree," burak "mud/lahar," or other similar words. I would not be surprised if it is a corruption of the word pila or pilac "clay." The archaeologist Robert Fox had reported that he saw what he thought were ancient quarries in Porac. Today, Porac is a major quarrying site, which may be one reason that archaeological finds are rather frequent in this area. Possibly in ancient times, Porac was a source of clay used for pottery and other uses.

In concluding, one last indication of the link with pottery and geography comes from ancient Kapampangan cosmology. The words suclub and sicluban are drawn from the same root meaning lid or cover and particularly referring to the lid of an earthenware pot. Suclub also means "horizon," and the phrase meto sicluban banua means vault or mantle of the sky. The ancients apparently viewed the world as a great pot with the sky as the lid or cover, which reminds us of the Penglai pot (hu) heaven in Chinese mythology.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Mallari, Joel Pabustan. "Adobe and Pumice: Upon these rocks," Singsing vol. 3, no. 1, 17-19.

__, "Ancient quarrying in Pampanga," Singsing vol. 3, no. 1, 18.

__, "Tracing the early Kapampangan boat people," Singsing vol. 3, no. 2, 58-9.

__, "The dying kuran technology of Capalangan," Singsing vol. 5, no. 1, 45-50.

Tantingco, Robby. "Time and space according to ancient Kapampangans," Singsing vol. 2, no. 4, 19-21.

Inscriptions found on Intramuros pottery shard

A new dig at the old city of Intramuros in Manila, Philippines has uncovered a pot shard with inscriptions around its shoulder.

The Calatagan Pot had writing in the same location and was carbon-dated to the Neolithic period, although researchers have generally rejected this as too early. The inscriptions on the latter pot have never been satisfactorily deciphered although the script resembles known writing systems in the Philippines.

These is no comment in the following article on whether any attempt has been made to decipher the new inscriptions.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/sep22/news4.htm

A NATIONAL Museum team has dug up a pot shard with an inscription
around its shoulder, similar to the world-renowned Calatagan pot, at
the San Ignacio archeological site in Intramuros.

The find, lying 140 centimeters below the surface at the ruins of the
San Ignacio church, is seen as evidence of another ancient form of
writing in the Philippines.

Most of the writing systems in the Southeast Asian region are derived
from an ancient script used in India.

In contrast to other countries, the Philippines has very few artifacts
that provide evidence of the earliest form of writing. These include
the Laguna copper plate (900 AD), Butuan ivory seal (9th to 12th
centuries), Butuan silver strip (14th to 15th centuries) and the
Calatagan pot (15th century).

When Spanish conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legazpi came in 1567, he
observed that inhabitants read and wrote in their own system of
writing using an alphabet.

The Tagalogs had their own alphabet, the baybayin, which was similar
to those used by people in the South. The baybayin was in wide use in
the 16th century, but its users began to wane in the following century.

Among ethno-linguistics groups in the Philippines, only three have
retained the use of their syllabic scripts: the Hanunoo and Bahid
Mangyan of Mindoro, and the Tagbanwa of Palawan.

The archaeological excavation at San Ignacio is another project being
implemented jointly by the Cultural Properties and Archaeology
Divisions of the National Museum and the Intramuros Administration.

This project is undertaken in connection with the plan of the IA to
develop the area where the church ruins stand into an ecclesiastical
museum.

Digging was started in June by the National Museum team made up of
curator Angel P. Bautista, researchers Alfredo Orogo and Carmencita
Mariano, artist Ernesto Toribio Jr., and Jimmy Fingcale.

Excavation in five squares yielded 500 pieces of archaeological
material, of which the pot shard with inscription is considered the
most significant find.

Neolithic burial site discovered in Batu Niah

Malaysian archaeologists have discovered Neolithic burials in the Niah-Subis limestone hills in Batu Niah on the island of Borneo.

Eight skeletons were discovered along with other artifacts including pottery. I hope that they will try to extract some genetic material from these skeletons. It will also be interesting to see, especially if the earlier dates of around 3,000 years ago are valid, as to whether there is any linkage with the Lapita-type pottery of Oceania.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

ANCIENT BURIAL SITE DISCOVERED IN BATU NIAH

Bernama - Saturday, August 2

KUCHING, Aug 1 (Bernama) -- A research team from the Centre For Archaeological Research Malaysia, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) and the Sarawak Museum Department has discovered an ancient burial site, believed to be from the Neolithic period, at Gua Kain Hitam in the Niah-Subis limestone hills in Batu Niah, Miri division.

Sarawak Museum Department deputy director Ipoi Datan said today the excavations at the site, funded by the National Heritage Department in 2007 and the USM Research University Grant last year, has so far uncovered more than eight human skeletons, dating back 2,000 to 3,000 years ago.

"The human skeletons as well as the associated artifacts such as pottery, ornaments and food remains like shells and animal bones are currently being analysed in order to extract more information about the burials and lifestyles of the ancient people who lived in the Niah-Subis region during that time," he said in a statement here.

He said the new finding would not only enrich knowledge on the early history of Sarawak and the nation but also expected to attract more local and foreign tourists to visit the site, which is located in the Niah National Park.

The Sarawak Museum Department is asking for public cooperation in not disturbing or encroaching into the site as the finds had no commercial value but only contained valuable research and academic significance, he said.

-- BERNAMA

Land of Sacred Jars

The pot of elixir was generally depicted as a globular vessel similar to the purna kalasa or "full pot" motif used in Hindu-Buddhist art, and often appearing in a reddish or brownish hue. Sometimes the pots used in ghata worship of the goddess as during the Devi and Durga puja rituals has the same shape. Similar pots occur in the early forms of the vessel of flowing water found in Mesopotamian art.

In the representations of this "merveilleux symbole qui etait comme le Saint-Graal de l'epopee chaldeenne," to quote the words of one of the greatest scholars of Sumerian antiquities, there can be recognized an "evolutionary" and more or less chronological sequence of types. At first there are plain globular vases, held by standing or seated personages, one hand below and the other on the vase.

-- Ananda Coomaraswamy, Yaksas

The amrita kumbha or "pot of elixir"

The sacred earthenware pots of Lusung were also generally of a globular shape and brownish or reddish color. They were of medium size that could be easily carried even when full of water.

In Japan, where we find the world's oldest known pottery, sacred jars are mentioned in the literature detailing the founding of the empire. The Japanese used these jars for storage and also for ritual sacrifice. In the Nihongi, the first emperor Jimmu Tenno meets a divine visitor during a war with his enemies and is told to make a great pot sacrifice to gain victory:

The Emperor, indignant at this, made prayer that night in person, and then fell asleep. The Heavenly Deity appeared to him in a dream, and instructed him, saying, "Take earth from within the shrine of the Heavenly Mount Kagu, and make from it eighty Heavenly platters. Also make sacred jars and sacrifice to the Gods of Heaven and Earth. More over pronounce a solemn prayer. If you do this, the enemy will render submission of their own accord."

In Southeast Asia, sacred jars were of several types. In addition to those used to store beverage and food, others were used for the practice of secondary burial. Both of these types of jars could also be handed down as sacred heirlooms known in Indonesia as pusaka. Jars were important status symbols and were used especially during marriage negotiations as one of the most coveted forms of bride wealth.

Pot worship was especially important in the Philippines, Borneo, Taiwan, among the Moi of Indochina and in certain other areas of Indonesia. Pottery is often the most important burial item in these regions where it is sometimes broken first, so the animistic spirit may accompany the deceased.

In latter times, Chinese celadons and large vessels known as dragon jars a type of stoneware, which, though of obvious Chinese influence, may have been of Southeast Asian manufacture. The simple earthenware pots became neglected and forgotten by the local people, but cherished by those abroad who had coveted them for ages.

Many fantastic traditions surround the sacred jars in insular Southeast Asia. In Borneo, the jars are said to be made of the gods from the same clay used to make the Sun and Moon (and sometimes also the Earth). Among the Tinguian of the Philippines, a certain jar named Magsawi was said to be able to converse, to take long journeys and even eventually got married to a female jar from a neighboring province. They eventually had a child jar with the same characteristics! According to the Tinguian, the sacred jars are the products of Kabonian, a deity with solar affinities.

Another tale of living jars comes from the tale of Gimbangonan:

Not long after he started, and when he arrived in the pasture, all the jars went to him, and all the jars stuck out their tongues; for they were very hungry and had not been fed for a long time. The jars were somadag, ginlasan, malayo and tadogan, and other kinds also. When Aponitolau thought that all the jars had arrived, he fed them all with betel-nut covered with lawed leaves. As soon as he fed, he gave them some salt. Not long after this they went to the pasture, and they rode on the back of a carabao [water buffalo].

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Corded Ware and the Terramara

The Battle Axe folk are also known as the Corded Ware Culture after the cord-marked pottery that suddenly appears around the Neolithic-Bronze Age transition period.

Although scenarios vary, the Battle Axe people have been suggested as non-Indo-European speakers who are invaded or otherwise amalgamate with an early Indo-European folk described as Nordwestblock.

The resulting culture is, in turn, invaded by or met with migrations from Proto-Germanic speaking people.

Cord-marked pottery appears very early far to the east in Asia. In fact, the earliest pottery in the world is that of the Jomon of Japan. The name "jomon" refers to the use of cord-markings. Possibly this practice influenced the later corded horizon in Southeast Asia, which also has relationship to the Hoabinhian tradition.


Distribution of Corded Ware Culture

Among the reconstructions for "jar" in Austronesian are *kundu which appears related to *kundu "gourd." Dempwolff reconstructs *kenD(ih) "pitcher, water jar," and Hayes has Proto-Austric *(kEn)zeh "pitcher".

Pedersen offers the following list of possibly related words:

from Danish Etymological Dictionary:

kanna "pitcher" Old Norse
kande id. Danish
kanne id. Norwegian
kanna id. Swedish
kanna id. Old Saxon
either
loan from
canna "reed, tube; flute" Latin
("clay container with spout" > "pitcher")?
cf., with suffix
cana:lis "canal" Latin
loan from
kánna "tube" Greek
loan from
qanu: Babylonian-Assyrian
gin id. Akkadian-Sumerian
or
*gan(dh)- Proto-IndoEuropean
gann "vessel, container" Middle Irish
*gandhna- Proto-IndoEuropean

kani "plate" Old Norse
kane "boat" Danish dial.
"sleigh" Danish
kane id. Norwegian
kane "bowl with handles",
"scoop" Norwegian dial.
kani "boat" Old Swedish
kana type of sleigh Swedish dial.
kani "small wooden bowl",
"trunk, snout",
type of boat Icelandic
kane "boat" Middle Low German
Kahn id. German
kaan id. Dutch

Pedersen feels these words belong to non-Indo-European Nordwestblock as they do not reconstruct clearly into earlier branches:

The restricted number of IE branches that the root occurs in (Celtic, Germanic, Italic) makes one suspicious that it is not IE, but non-IE Nordwestblock (with two other "container" words in the Germanic languages, and , we can be certain they aren't Germanic; roots in Germanic of the form CVC where the C's are unvoiced stops (p, t, k, kW), would have to be from PIE roots CVC, where the C's are voiced stops (b, d, g, gW), but such roots do not occur in PIE. Further the /a/ of the Latin word makes it likely it was borrowed into Latin too. In my opinion the root can be accounted for much more easily by assuming it travelled as a loanword from SEAsia to Europe.

The natural frozen mummy known as Ötzi found in the Italian Alps and dating to this period might be related to this culture. The pile dwellings or terramarra of northern Italy have been linked with the shell mounds further north. They are also known as pile-middens. Like shell middens, pile-middens are mounds of accumulated rubbish.

The pile dwelling settlements were protected by plank-fortified earthen walls with a moat on the inner side, and the homes built on dry land. The earthen fortress was divided into four parts and usually located near a stream.


Recreation of a terramara

Settlements of nearly exactly the same type are constructed to this day in Southeast Asia and the Pacific (New Guinea). The earthen embankments are strengthened by logs, and middens accumulate under the pile-dwellings just as in early Italy. Even the height of the piles is usually the same. They are built over both dry land and over water.

Ötzi wore a loincloth but had plenty of other clothing to keep warm including leggings, insulated shoes, a bear-skin hat, a skin jerkin and a cape of linden tree bark fibers and feathers. He also had birch bark containers which he used to carry live embers. His stone axe was quadrangular in cross-section. His body had what may have been medicinal tattoos.

Most interestingly though, Ötzi wore barkcloth gauntlets!

Mummy of Ötzi

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento