Cotabato Limestone Urns:
navigating repatriation
The goal of Philippine Archaeology, broadly, is to tell a narrative of what happened in the past, and how this process shaped the history and culture of different groups in the Philippines.
This educational exhibit features artifacts that were extracted from Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines; purchased by Sally von dem Hagen; shipped to the U.S. ; and most recently donated to Filipino American Service Group. Inc, a local nonprofit organization here in Los Angeles. Following this local exhibit, the limestone urn artifacts will later be repatriated to the National Museum of the Philippines in Manila as part of a larger movement to return cultural items to their appropriate stewards.
Left: Cotabato City, Right: Los Angeles
In Los Angeles alone, there are over half a million Filipinos. This collection is an opportunity for community members to engage in the wider discussion of Filipino heritage, culture, and archaeology, and to be active participants in the reclamation of our collective material culture.
Debunking Dominant Narratives
Philippine archaeology is often divided into two periods: everything before Spanish colonization in the sixteenth century is “precolonial,” while everything after is characterized by how much or little it was influenced by the Spanish. The search for a “pure” and “untainted” pre-Spanish culture has its roots from Ilustrados like Jose Rizal who longed to shed themselves of Spanish influence and return to their true Filipino roots. This type of nationalism was validated by H. Otley Beyer’s “waves of migration” theory in the twentieth century. This theory suggested that as the Philippines was populated through time, older groups (Ifugaos, Kalingas, and other highland Indigenous Peoples) moved inland where they evaded Spanish colonization, while newer groups (Tagalogs, Visayans, etc.) moved in, occupied the lowlands, and were eventually integrated into mainstream Spanish/Filipino society and history.
This theory ignores and trivializes local and Indigenous histories, and builds the myth that pre-Spanish Philippines was a monolithic culture. It also ignores Indigenous groups that occupied Mindanao to the south.
Alternative historical narratives instead explore local heritages and histories, their unique cultures and practices, and responses to culture contact. Collaborative, community-engaged archaeology aims to construct narratives that work with local communities and considers their needs, goals, and unique identities.
Culture and History
1970: the burial urns as they were found inside the cave.
In the 1970s in Cotabato, Sally met with Nonoy, who spoke both Monobo and English, as well as the village datu, or leader. She gave Nonoy cameras to photograph the villagers and the urns.
Acording to Nonoy, villagers were hunting deer with bow and arrow when they wounded a deer and chased it up a hill, where they found a cave opening with a 30-foot high wall. They descended the wall, entered the cave, and came upon a vast assortment of limestone burial urns containing human remains. Many of the urns and their distinct covers were damaged, but the villagers were able to carry some of them up over the wall with a ladder.
Some villagers were initially hesitant to enter the cave because they believed it contained spirits. One story from Nonoy describes a villager who ran out of the cave yelling that he had lost his eyesight. Nonoy was a converted Christian, and so he blessed the man with his bible, and the man's vision soon returned. Nonoy rid the cave of evil spirits by continuing to read from the bible, which convinced the villagers that it was now safe to enter. Today, it is common practice to have a priest bless human remains from an archaeological site. The urns exhibited here have also been blessed in this new space.
The urns were likely constructed approximately 2800-1000 years ago. During this time, burial urns were a common form of interment in coastal areas, in caves, and on hilly terrain. Earthenware jar burials are more common across the Philippines, but the limestone urns are mostly found in Cotabato. Burial urns like these are typically used for secondary burials, which means the jars are not the first vessel for the deceased, but rather an individual’s final resting place after they are first laid to rest.
Two limestone urn covers with notable geomorphic patterns and distinct facial features.
The urns each had matching covers at their time of use, but natural disasters like earthquakes and even human disturbance over the years moved and damaged some pieces. The urns are either squared or rounded with geometric lining, a foot or more in height, and quite heavy. The covers or lids feature anthropomorphic, human-like bodies protruding from the center. Some have limbs that extend out to the edges of the cover. Several covers have geomorphic lines and patterns that match the urns. Faces are highly individualized, carved with distinct facial features, including ears, earring holes, noses, smiles, frowns, and other expressions. It is hypothesized that the figures on the urns were meant to identify the deceased. The urns were noted to have human remains inside them when they were first acquired in the 1970s, although now their location is mostly unknown.
Research in Maguindanao, the province of Cotabato, only began in the 1960s, but archaeologists have reported many anthropomorphic vessels from this region. Several urns recovered were buried along with other smaller jars that carried personal adornments such as shell and ceramic bracelets and iron plates.
LiDAR Scans
Below are three-dimensional scans of the exhibitions artifacts.
Circular vessel with cover
Square vessel
Square urn cover
Circular urn cover
Ethics of Collecting Material Culture
Archaeologists today encourage individuals who find cultural artifacts to take a different route than removing material from its origins, a route that fosters heritage management. Archaeological sites are best studied when there has been minimal disturbance so the artifacts and their environment can be studied methodically. Although the urns were likely first used thousands of years ago, and their direct connection to contemporary Manobo is not known, the Manobo could still benefit from investing in their cultural research and heritage maintenance. When items are taken away from their place of origin, the source community is separated from their ancestors and evidence of their deep history. For this reason, it is important to stress the need for more funding and research opportunities to co-produce heritage knowledge with Indigenous communities.
We can use artifacts like the Cotabato limestone urns as an educational tool to encourage stewardship, or the act of taking care of cultural materials. Through avenues such as this exhibit, we can inform the public on the importance of cultural materials and engender a sense of respect for the objects, the context in which they came from, and the culture they represent.
Issues of Repatriation and Empowerment
At the conclusion of this exhibit, it will be reevaluated where this collection will go and how it will best serve the involved communities. These artifacts will likely be repatriated–returned back to the Philippines–and placed first under the care of the National Museum of the Philippines in Manila. As a cultural agency of the Philippine heritage the National Museum serves as a repository of archaeological materials. Although there are limestone urns elsewhere among private museums in the Philippines and the U.S., repatriation of these artifacts back to the Philippines is the first step to invite the Manobo back to the conversation to determine who will be the next stewards of these cultural materials. Closer to home, the future location of the collection in the Philippines reinforces the community’s place over how the artifacts are managed, exhibited, and shared.
8 burial urns, three including both the vessel and cover, arranged at FASGI for display.
Heritage Engagement
Use of the burial urns for heritage engagement through an exhibition at the Filipino American Services Group.
Although their provenance is complicated, the presence of Philippine cultural material in Los Angeles makes it possible for Filipinos in the diaspora to interact with and learn about the deep history of the Philippines without having to travel all the way to Manila. Working with generous donors like the van dem Hagen family to steward these cultural artifacts brings the past into the present and creates a space for Filipinos to reassess our knowledge and understanding our cultural history. Through this exhibit, we encourage Filipinos in the diaspora including others interested in Philippine culture and history to rethink how they see the artifacts by focusing on its role in the wider conversation about its place in the local communities, the Philippines, and abroad.
Dispelling myths perpetuated in the education system and acknowledging the diverse and dynamic peoples that popularize the Philippines is an important step in redirecting Philippine history and archaeology to be inclusive, engaged, and community-based.