or 20 days during the summer of 1999, four student archaeologists from the
University of the Philippines labored under the hot Pampanga sun learning
the technical aspects of archaeological field excavation. Working with
archaeologists-cum-mentors from the National Museum of the Philippines, we
dug deep into the sugarcane fields of Porac, Pampanga searching for evidence
of prehistoric settlements.
SETTING / EXPLORATION
The site is located in a plateau locally known as Babo Balukbuk, a Barangay
in the Municipality of Porac, Pampanga Province. Sugarcane, rice and camote,
are some of the crops grown in the area. The team set its camp on Babo Pangulo,
a similarly highland as the Babo Balukbuk. Each day, the team has to walk about
15-20 minutes to reach the excavation site. A planter, Mr. Nestor Dizon, privately
owns the present area of excavation.
Historically, Pampanga was known to be one of the most productive provinces. In
the 1990's, however, Pampanga along with Zambales and adjacent provinces suffered
from lahar disaster caused by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption. Hence, the thick layer of
ash observed in the site surroundings is evident of a recent volcanic activity.
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EXCAVATION ACTIVITIES
Following the methods and procedures set by the National Museum, the team
excavated three squares with a 4m x 4m dimension, namely: S1E, S2E3 and S4E4.
Each squares were arbitrarily dug and leveled every 40 cm until the layer which contained most of the cultural remains were reached.
Artifactual features and soil stratigraphy were recorded and them retrieved for
washing and packing.
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SOME ARTIFACTS FROM THE SITE
Ceramic wares represent the bulk of the artifacts uncovered. The native earthenware
pieces are sometimes coarse, polished or painted.
Tradeware ceramics are composed of stoneware, celadon and porcelain.
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