Archaeology Magazine - May/June 2018 - 62

LETTER FROM THE PHILIPPINES
(continued from page 60)
of those topsoils, whatever substance
remained under the terrace foundations
would logically be the oldest.
By listening to the oral stories of
Ifugao people today, researching possible historical migration routes, and
tracing plausible passages that followed
riverbeds from lowlands to highlands,
he found evidence of dates that were
progressively younger the higher he
looked in the mountains, and hypothesized that early migrants settled in areas
they could manage and farm. In addition, Acabado and his colleagues have
searched for direct evidence of wet-rice
production in what is thought to be
the first Ifugao village, Old Kiyyangan,
which was settled about 1,000 years
ago. "It wasn't until 1650 that we see a
clear, unambiguous appearance of wet

rice and also grasses that are associated
with wet rice," Acabado says.
Researchers collected 12 sediment
samples from two trenches for pollen,
phytolith, and starch analyses. The
earliest rice remains appear in terrace sediments dating to roughly 675
years ago, but it isn't until between
470 and 530 years ago that the results
show a marked increase in these rice
remains. This supports a later date for
the expansion of wet-rice cultivation
in Ifugao. Further, the team tested
cooking-pot residues to determine
what locals were eating in precolonial
times. They found evidence of taro
and a substance similar to sugarcane-
but no wet rice. "With that knowledge," says Acabado, "we argue that
there would have been terraces in the
region, but not for rice." Small-scale
terraces such as those found in Hawaii

and other Pacific Islands would have
been used for taro, but not until the
Spanish arrived did the region see a
distinct population increase and a massive undertaking in the change to wetrice production. That's when Acabado
suggests that Ifugao's iconic sculpted
landscape came to be.
Initially, Acabado thought it logical
to find wet rice at the same time as a
population increase because it's a more
productive crop than taro and can feed
more people. "It also has a longer shelf
life. Much, much longer. It can last
for 20 years in a perfect environment,
as opposed to taro, which can last for
only two weeks at most," he says. But
further research showed that wet-rice
production in Ifugao supported only
10 percent of the population. The vast
majority continued to eat other carbohydrates, likely sweet potatoes, taro,

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ARCHAEOLOGY * May/June 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - May/June 2018