History of Research

The Philippine Archipelago of more than seven thousand islands had the seeds of modern archaeology planted in the early 20th century. The discipline, however, took much effort to grow to the current vibrant condition of archaeological research. The study of archaeology in the Philippines can be divided into five periods: Pre-Archaeology (up to the late 19th century), Accidental Archaeology (the late 19th century to early 1920s), Committed Archaeology (early 1920s to mid-1960s), Directed Archaeology (mid-1960s to late 1990s) and Reflective Archaeology (late 1990s to the present). This periodisation follows the transforming ethical practice of the discipline and tracks the changes in the mentality and infrastructure that transpired towards its effective practice in the 21st century (see Paz 2009).

The Pre-Archaeology Period has a more tentative range and is certainly the longest. It covers the time before there was known evidence for people adding value to material culture because of its antiquity. New evidence from archaeological research that can demonstrate value-adding practice to material culture would therefore change the upper limits of the period. To date, it goes up to the 19th century ce. The Accidental Archaeology Period had a weak antiquarian appreciation of the past. Archaeological concerns only served as a sidebar for the focus of research, which was mainly ethnographic/ethnology and the natural sciences. Studies were dominated by European adventurers/collectors in the 19th century and by American ethnographers in the 20th century. Committed Archaeology is a period in archaeological praxis that witnessed the dominance of antiquarian thinking among practitioners while developing the academic base of the discipline.