Cultural Migration

On the other hand, linguistic and archaeological evidence indicates that the Philippines was probably the very first new land colonized by the proto-Austonesians traveling south from Taiwan in their fabulous outrigger canoes, about 3,000 B.C.. They displaced the long-resident Aeta in many places, and left at least one remnant population in the Manobo of Mindanao, before traveling on to take over Indonesia and Malaysia.

Although the coast of China is only 500 miles away, the mainland Chinese appear to have had little contact with the Philippines until the Tang dynasty, about 600 C.E., and even then their role was mainly confined to that of trading partner. Instead, influences appear to have come mainly from the south and west.

Based on resemblances between isolated remains of indigenous cultures in Assam, Indonesia, parts of Indochina, and the Philippines, A.L. Kroeber postulated a "Southeast Asiatic" culture area that existed before the arrival of influences from major civilizations (a few centuries before the Common Era). The list of cultural similarities is impressive; they include "kaingin agriculture; rice terraces; meat consumption chiefly in connection with sacrifice; betel chewing; gabled thatch houses raised from the ground; tree houses; bark cloth; cotton; tie-dying of warps; brimless caps; wearing of combs; tooth-filing; tattooing; fire cord or saw; fire piston; vertical piston bellows; gongs of bronze of brass considered valuables; bow of bamboo; blowgun; girls' house; religious festivals given to promote or preserve one's social status; head hunting; human sacrifice; bamboo altars; cult of ancestral spirits; divination; plurality of souls."

By 200 B.C.E., Tamil and Hindu speaking traders and conquerers began making their influence felt, bringing new fashions and cultural traditions which included the Hindu script still in use on Mindoro Island and parts of the Visayas.

Finally, Moslem invaders followed this same seaborne route to the Philippines beginning about the 13th century, only shortly before the Portuguese and Spanish arrived. The Moslem influence has been significant, but it is mainly confined to the south.