A SURVEY OF REPORTED ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN TAWI-TAWI
By Israel B. Cabanilla
Kubo is located in Tawi-Tawi Island. The distance between Bongao and Kubo is
fifty (50) kilometers west as the crow flies. We could not go directly to the site and
had to take a circuitous route because of seaweed farms and coral reefs that abound in
the general area. There were two sites explored in Kubo: one, the archaeological site,
below the sea level and the shrine of Sheik Makdum, ten (10) meters above sea level.
Dungon has a reputation for being a no man’s land. If Tawi-Tawi and Sulu have a
reputation of being dangerous, Dungon, by consensus among the residents of Tawi-Tawi,
is a place to avoid. All this is folklore. One of the primary reasons given by the
residents of Tawi-Tawi that perpetuates the myth of Dungon’s “notoriety” are the
presence of armed illegal loggers and illegal fishermen, smugglers, pirates and other
lawless elements.
We went and stayed for a couple of days there, unarmed. And
nothing untoward happened to us. The only danger that confronted us were natural:
crocodiles (in the sea) and Malaria-carrying mosquitoes and the isolation from any
commercial area.
The archaeological site in Kubo alone is enough reason for going back to TawiTawi
to conduct a full-scale archaeological campaign. This is very rich and humanly
undisturbed. Within every radius of a hundred meters, artifacts, mostly of Chinese
origin dating from 17th to 18th century abound.
The site is surrounded by pristine mangroves on one side and by a dipterocarp
forest on the other side.
The sea in the area abound with marine and wildlife. I saw a
crocodile and huge pawikan (sea turtle). There are monkeys and parrots too.
Mosquitoes abound by the millions—one of the reasons why this place is sparsely
populated. There is also no mosque in this predominantly Muslim area. The Ilocanos
who were sent there during the early 1950’s have all left, mostly due to malaria.
The site is rich but it is located in an area that is adversely affected by the tide.
During the high tide the artifacts are covered with water but when the tide ebbs the
artifacts can be seen. This is one of the problems that will confront the excavator. The
inaccessibility of the place is another reason why it would be expensive to excavate in
this site.
Dungon is half a day’s boat ride from Bongao. If an archaeological
excavation is to be conducted all of these problems must be factored in. But the
rewards of a scientific excavation will be amply returned in terms of artifacts
recovered and information gathered. From surface finds alone, we were able to see all
sorts of trade ware sherds—plates, bowls, jars, earthenware sherds and it is probable
that we will be able to get a lot of whole pieces if there would be an excavation.
The logistics of mounting that campaign is going to be expensive and quite
tedious and slow because excavation can only be done when the tide is low. The
excavation will be limited and dictated by the ebb and flow of the tides. One will
always be submerged in water and underlying soft soil. The dangers of being infected
by Malaria is real. This is one of the reasons why this site is safe for now—relative
isolation from the rest of the world.
The value of the site archaeologically is that it is undisturbed and therefore a very
good site for understanding the 17th and 18th century Tawi-Tawi. Other sites, such as
on the other islands I have visited, will be better understood if it is compared with the
excavations in Dungon.
A Dungon archaeological site may be made the basis for
comparing other islands which have been disturbed that have deposits of 17th and 18th
century artifacts. I do not know if we would be able to find any midden sites in the
July 2000 60
Hukay vol. 2 no. 2
area but certainly it would just be a matter of time and more exploration to pinpoint
the burials and the middens.
Dungon, therefore, is the primary archaeological target for the understanding of
the 17th and 18th century Tawi-Tawi. Beyer (1947) was correct in his assessment of
the area.
Source: http://journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/asp/article/viewFile/4256/3864
