Maritime culture and aquaculture Cultural achievements of pre-colonial Philippines

native boats , outriggers depicted in history , conquest of philippines , our other island possessions; embracing our war filipinos alden march, published in 1899. caption (cropped out) read: boats of upper type used land u.s. troops @ manila. 1 of in astor battery landed sank in surf before reaching shore. natives carried men ashore on shoulders. lower boat fisherman s craft used negritos, shoot fish in clear water bows , arrows.

ancient peoples of philippines, being descendants of balangay-borne austronesian migrants maritime southeast asia, known navigational skills. of them used compass similar used among maritime communities of borneo , traders of china, although had no need such devices. in modern times, fishermen , traders in visayas, mindanao, sulu , palawan can still navigate long distances on open water without use of modern navigational instruments. philippine ships, such karakao or korkoa of excellent quality , of them used spaniards in expeditions against rebellious tribes , dutch , british forces. of larger rowed vessels held hundred rowers on each side besides contingent of armed troops. generally, larger vessels held @ least 1 lantaka @ front of vessel or 1 placed @ stern. philippine sailing ships called praos had double sails seemed rise on hundred feet surface of water. despite large size, these ships had double outriggers. of larger sailing ships, however, did not have outriggers.

communities of ancient philippines active in international trade, , used ocean natural highways. ancient peoples engaged in long-range trading asian neighbors far west maldives , far north japan. historians proposed had regular contacts people of western micronesia because area in oceania had rice crops, tuba (fermented coconut sap), , tradition of betel nut chewing when first europeans arrived there. uncanny resemblance of complex body tattoos among visayans , of borneo proved interesting connection between borneo , ancient philippines. magellan s chronicler, antonio pigafetta, mentioned merchants , ambassadors surrounding areas came pay tribute king of sugbu (cebu) purpose of trade. while magellan s crew king, representative siam paying tribute king. miguel lópez de legazpi wrote how merchants luzon , mindoro had come cebu trade, , mentioned how chinese merchants regularly came luzon same purpose. visayan islands had earlier encounter greek traders in 21 ad. people enjoyed extensive trade contacts other cultures. indians, arabs, koreans, japanese, vietnamese, cambodians, thais, malaysians , indonesians traders or immigrants.

aside trade relations, natives involved in aquaculture , fishing. natives make use of salambao, type of raft utilizes large fishing net lowered water via type of lever made of 2 criss-crossed poles. night fishing accomplished of candles made particular type of resin similar copal of mexico. use of safe pens incubation , protection of small fry predators observed, , method astonished spaniards @ time. during fishing, large mesh nets used natives protect young , ensure future catches.