{"id":967,"date":"2023-01-07T00:17:48","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T23:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/?p=967"},"modified":"2023-01-24T00:32:15","modified_gmt":"2023-01-23T23:32:15","slug":"pantropocene-archaeological-surveys-in-cagayan-isabela-the-philippines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/?p=967","title":{"rendered":"PANTROPOCENE Archaeological Surveys in Cagayan &#038; Isabela, the Philippines"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the 26<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> anniversary of the founding of the University of the Philippines\u2019 Archaeological Studies Program (UP-ASP) on August 24, 2021, an architect named Michael Tabao presented a paper: \u201cCagayan\u2019s Chessboard: Mapping and Visualizing the Rise and Fall of the 18<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Century Spanish Fortifications in Cagayan Valley.\u201d Michael was a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cagayano<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and an instructor at the University of St. Louis, Tuguegarao City. The talk piqued my interest because Michael was presenting information previously unknown to me about Isabela, my father\u2019s home province, and Cagayan (Fig. 1). At the same time, Dr. Grace Barretto-Tesoro was also keenly listening in on the talk. Grace was foreseeing the usefulness of the information for the PANTROPOCENE project. Future study of these forts fits well with her interest in testing the correlation between the construction of stone structures with changes in settlement patterns as well as the environmental effects these changes initiated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-969\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-1-Study-Area-Map.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1440\" height=\"1125\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-1-Study-Area-Map.png 1440w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-1-Study-Area-Map-300x234.png 300w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-1-Study-Area-Map-1024x800.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-1-Study-Area-Map-768x600.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1440px) 100vw, 1440px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 1. Map of study areas mentioned in text (Adapted from Google Earth by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In mid-2021, Mylene Lising, an ASP alumna and a heritage specialist who has worked in Kalinga and Cagayan, organized a lecture series called \u201cCagayan Heritage Conversation Series\u201d and invited Grace to collaborate on a project. One year later and the ASP team, consisting of Grace, Dr. Leee Neri, a professor specializing in historical archaeology at ASP, and Arcadio Pagulayan, a support staff member of the PANTROPOCENE, and I, finally went to Tuguegarao to meet with Michael, Mylene, and Kevin Baclig, curator of the Cagayan Museum and Historical Research Center, to start what was a long five-day slog that spanned the reaches of Cagayan as well as a couple of locations in the province of Isabela. As most of the forts Michael referenced in his talk are no longer standing and their locations are not very well indicated in historical maps, we ultimately decided to concentrate our efforts on Spanish-era stone churches and other structures to explore the changing patterns and environmental impacts of built architecture in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We travelled around 750 kilometers within the reaches of the Cagayan Valley during the survey period. Our survey covered towns like Claveria and Sanchez Mira in northwestern Cagayan, Camalaniugan, Lal-lo and Gattaran in the northeast, and the sites of Tuguegarao, Iguig, Rizal, Piat, Alcala, and Tuao in the south. On our way back to Manila, we passed through San Pablo and Tumauini, just off the Cagayan River in Isabela, to investigate a few sites there as well. In all, we surveyed 26 potential sites, all stone-based structures such as churches, forts, and a few <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hornos <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(kilns). We relied on Kevin, Michael, and Mylene for suggesting sites to survey based on their knowledge of historical records of their home province.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We were warmly welcomed in all of the towns we visited. All the representatives we spoke with expressed their eagerness to collaborate with future historical and archaeological research we may undertake. This is in no small way because of Mylene and Kevin. The work they did in reaching out to the different<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> local government units <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(LGUs) prior to our visit to Cagayan made our survey seamless. We also sent letters of introduction to the Cagayan Governor and to the Mayors of the towns included in our list, but the reception we received was almost certainly the result of the work of our local collaborators. This account of our survey of sites in parts of Cagayan and Isabela does not follow a chronological sequence of our travels, but rather follows a general geographic approach. I have divided up the survey area into southern Cagayan, northeastern Cagayan, northwestern Cagayan, and Isabela regions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Southern Cagayan\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tuguegarao City served as our base for the majority of the survey (we also stayed in Pamplona in the northwest), and we surveyed a few localities that have historical importance to the region while there. One of the first sites we visited was <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iglesia de Santiago Apostol <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">or Iguig Church in the town of Iguig (Noche 2004). Completed in 1787, perhaps the most notable feature of the church is the presence of flying buttresses on its apse (Fig. 2). Quite an uncommon architectural design in the churches in Cagayan but, according to Michael, flying buttresses as support structures were generally utilized as a workaround for want of abundant materials.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-970\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-2-Iguig-Church-flying-buttresses-Iguig.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"551\" height=\"735\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-2-Iguig-Church-flying-buttresses-Iguig.jpg 551w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-2-Iguig-Church-flying-buttresses-Iguig-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 551px) 100vw, 551px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 2. Flying buttresses of Iguig Church (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another feature of the church complex is one of the more well-preserved <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hornos <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in Cagayan Valley (Macarrubo 2019) (Fig. 3). The bricks used for the construction of the church were most probably made here. The location of the church is on a rolling knoll overlooking the Cagayan River, approximately 77 metres above sea level (masl). Presently, the land southeast of the stone structure has been fashioned into a small park with a prominent cross on an altar built on top of the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">horno <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(the columns of the kiln are flanking the crucifix).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Southeast of Iguig Church, in a square just across the road, but part of the church compound still, there was a red-brick well with excavation happening beside it. The excavation has a depth of about one metre. The sediment was primarily of loose sand clay, and on the West wall there were layers with charcoal starting around 40cm down. Aside from this, we were able to find a few pieces of stoneware and porcelain sherds on the terminal layer which may point to its age. We collected the artifacts and accessioned them when we arrived in Manila. Future archaeological excavations will be plotted in the back area of the church grounds with at least one square also allotted in a cleared area downslope near where present corn stands are now located.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-971\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-3-Iguig-horno-colums-Iguig.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"561\" height=\"748\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-3-Iguig-horno-colums-Iguig.jpg 561w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-3-Iguig-horno-colums-Iguig-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 561px) 100vw, 561px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 3. Columns of Iguig horno (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Tuguegarao City we also visited a few historically-significant sites such as the St. Peter Metropolitan Cathedral, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ermita de San Jacinto<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and three <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">horno <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sites. St. Peter, also known as the Tuguegarao Cathedral, was completed in 1766 after five years. The architectural design of the cathedral also includes flying buttresses at the apse that have since been converted to a small chapel for the reservation, exposition and worship of the Eucharist by covering the arches of the buttresses with cement. The bricks came from the same <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hornos <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that produced the materials to construct <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iglesia y Ermita de San Jacinto <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that was completed in 1724. An earlier version of the chapel was established as a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">visita <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in 1604, however (Macarrubo 2019; see also Noche 2004). The surrounds of St. Peter and San Jacinto as well as the kiln sites located by the Pinacanauan River unfortunately cannot be studied archaeologically. Their grounds are cemented and leave no space to allow for excavations to be done. Leee, towards the end of our survey, shared that he has not seen <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hornos<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> quite as big in his experience working in Mindanao.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Church of Malaueg (or San Raymundo de Pe\u00f1afort Church) (Fig. 4) in Rizal, Cagayan can be dated to the early 17<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Century\u2014the laying of the first stone was on November 21, 1617. Located by a tributary of the Chico River (which itself links with the Cagayan River) called Matalag River, the church was named after the language spoken by the Indigenous peoples that settled in the valley (Jose 2011b). Aside from the church, there are the ruins of a convent within its grounds. The convent grounds are overgrown with vegetation, but the walls are very much still standing. The location of the church and convent grounds appear to be on a promontory (estimates of 70 masl), and to the northeast one can see the land sloping down. Following a concrete staircase leading down from the grounds led me to a community that was less than 100 metres west of a bend of the Matalag River.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-972\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-4-apse-of-Malaueg-Church-Rizal.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"745\" height=\"658\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-4-apse-of-Malaueg-Church-Rizal.jpg 745w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-4-apse-of-Malaueg-Church-Rizal-300x265.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 4. Older apse of Malaueg Church in Rizal (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Southeast of Rizal, the town of Piat was established as a mission in 1610. The church itself, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Guzman <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was built in 1740 (Noche 2004), and now lies in ruins (Fig. 5) south-southwest of the current Our Lady of Piat High School. According to Michael, what remains of the historical church is the apse at the back of the school building. Aside from the apse, one can see structures with distinct buttresses and arches made of red brick in a few standing walls that may have been part of the convent. The materials to construct the church and convent may have been manufactured in a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">horno <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in Brgy. Poblacion 1. The top of the kiln itself overlooks Chico River, less than 30m away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alcala (formerly named Fulay) is a town that started as an ecclesiastical mission in 1845 under the patronage of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Santa Filomena, Virgen y Martir<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The church, still named after the patron saint, came much later in 1881 (Noche 2004), and was one of the later built churches we covered in our survey.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-973\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-5-wall-of-convent-Iglesia-de-Santo-Domingo-de-Guzman-Piat.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"827\" height=\"707\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-5-wall-of-convent-Iglesia-de-Santo-Domingo-de-Guzman-Piat.jpg 827w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-5-wall-of-convent-Iglesia-de-Santo-Domingo-de-Guzman-Piat-300x256.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-5-wall-of-convent-Iglesia-de-Santo-Domingo-de-Guzman-Piat-768x657.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 827px) 100vw, 827px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 5. Possible wall of convent in Iglesia de Santo Domingo de Guzman Church grounds in Piat (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Tuao, we visited a site Michael and Kevin speculated to be the earliest church in town based on historical records. The site is in the middle of a rice field in Brgy. Battang. The structure we saw was a portion of a circular stone pillar of about 10 feet high with a diameter of about 5 feet. We also surveyed a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">horno <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">site located in the backyard of a residence. The kiln is quite unlike what I have seen so far. The structure is a stone arched kiln measuring about 2470mm at its zenith. A few in our group have suggested the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">horno <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">may have been used to produce lime. The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iglesia de Los Santos Angeles Custudios <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Holy Guardian Angels Parish) was the last site we visited in Tuao. The town was established as an ecclesiastical mission in 1612, but the historic church was probably erected from 1886-1890 based on some archival photographs (Noche 2004). While the colonial structure was destroyed, one can still see parts of the historical church in some of the standing walls.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Northeastern Cagayan\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Camalaniugan, in Brgy. Sapping, once stood the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iglesia de San Jacinto de Polonia <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Fig. 6)<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The church (and the connected convent) was built ca. 1746. Ecclesiastic missionaries started their work in 1596, and a settlement was established that bears the name of the town (Noche 2004). While Tulag (present-day Abulug), Buguey, and Nassiping were all under the authority of the Camalaniugan <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">vicaria <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as early as 1596, it also became subsumed under different ecclesiastic missions throughout its history as well (Jose 2019b).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The church ruins are located at an elevation with the Cagayan River at its back. The church structure itself only lasted less than 100 years. A typhoon and a strong earthquake destroyed San Jacinto in 1845. The modern San Jacinto Parish Church is situated in a compound northeast of the historical church. Aside from the modern San Jacinto, we also surveyed a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">horno <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in Brgy. Agusi in a park-like setting overlooking the Cagayan River. The kiln is thought to be the tallest and most well-preserved in the whole of Cagayan (Macarrubo 2019).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-974\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-6-Iglesia-de-San-Jacinto-de-Polonia-Ruins-Camalaniugan.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"899\" height=\"673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-6-Iglesia-de-San-Jacinto-de-Polonia-Ruins-Camalaniugan.jpg 899w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-6-Iglesia-de-San-Jacinto-de-Polonia-Ruins-Camalaniugan-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-6-Iglesia-de-San-Jacinto-de-Polonia-Ruins-Camalaniugan-768x575.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 899px) 100vw, 899px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 6. Iglesia de San Jacinto de Polonia ruins in Camalaniugan (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iglesia de San Miguel Arcangel <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ruins (Fig. 7) in Brgy. Nassiping in Gattaran is one of the more impressive stone structures I saw during our survey. The stone church itself is not grand nor expansive but it is still functioning, under the care of the barangay. Aside from the church structure, there are the ruins of a convent located within the church grounds. Starting as a mission under the patronage of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Santa Catalina, Virgen y Martir <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">in 1596, the church\u2019s name was changed to the present patron saint in 1604. There is no exact date for the establishment of the stone church; however, it is believed that it predates the construction of the Santa Catalina Church in Gattaran (Noche 2004).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Brgy. Centro Sur, the church of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Santa Catalina de Alejandria <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">can be found. The red brick church was completed in 1739, but started as the mission of Gattaran in 1623. After its completion, Santa Catalina supplanted Nassiping Church as the town\u2019s main church. As it stands now, only the apse may be attributed to the historic church. The majority of the church has been renovated as it was destroyed during the Second World War (Noche 2004; Jose 2020).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-975\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-7-Iglesia-de-San-Miguel-Arcangel-Ruins-Gattaran.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"798\" height=\"762\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-7-Iglesia-de-San-Miguel-Arcangel-Ruins-Gattaran.jpg 798w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-7-Iglesia-de-San-Miguel-Arcangel-Ruins-Gattaran-300x286.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-7-Iglesia-de-San-Miguel-Arcangel-Ruins-Gattaran-768x733.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 7. The Iglesia de San Miguel Arcangel ruins in Gattaran (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When we arrived at Tocolana (Fig. 8), Mylene muttered \u201cAngkor WHAT?!\u201d And I agree. What we saw is an example of monumental architecture, or at least the ruins of, that I normally do not associate with the Philippines. The view before us was what remains of the grand stone structure. Tocolana was one of three parishes in Lalloc or Nueva Segovia (now Lal-lo). The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iglesia San Vicente Ferrer de Tocolana <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is projected to have been erected within the 17<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Century. The records are scant about the history of Tocolana, but what is known is that it became a Spanish mission in 1604. Sometime after, beginning in 1692, it was subsumed under Camalaniugan and then again under Lallo from 1708-1773 (Jose 2019a).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aside from Tocolana, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">San Pedro<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Cathedral of Nueva Segovia) was also one of the parishes established in Lal-lo (Noche 2004). The site of the old cathedral ruins is in what-is-now Brgy. San Jose, and ceased to be used and abandoned in 1790 (Jose 2019a). It was then used as <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Casa Real<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the office of the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alcalde-Mayor<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (equivalent to Provincial Governor in today\u2019s times) of Cagayan before the capital was transferred to Tuguegarao. Then, in the late 19<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Century, the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tabacalera <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">offices and warehouse were built over the ruins (Jose 2019a). Presently, there are still red brick walls and arches at the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Casa Real<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> site which is now part of a community of residents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The only standing parish of the original three of Lallo is the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iglesia Santo Domingo de Guzman<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Santo Domingo <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">was established as a Dominican house in 1598 in a new settlement called Bagumbayan for non-<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cagayanes<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The church itself cannot be dated based on historical records, but may have been erected in the 17<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> century. The church, in its present state, is probably not reflective of the historic church anymore as a result of the damages that occurred during WWII. The interior space is not the original as well and has since been remodeled (Jose 2019a).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-976\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-8-Iglesia-San-Vicente-Ferrer-de-Tocolana-Ruins-Lal-lo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"979\" height=\"605\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-8-Iglesia-San-Vicente-Ferrer-de-Tocolana-Ruins-Lal-lo.jpg 979w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-8-Iglesia-San-Vicente-Ferrer-de-Tocolana-Ruins-Lal-lo-300x185.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-8-Iglesia-San-Vicente-Ferrer-de-Tocolana-Ruins-Lal-lo-768x475.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 979px) 100vw, 979px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 8. Ruins of the Iglesia San Vicente Ferrer de Tocolana in Lal-lo (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>Northwestern Cagayan\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aside from <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nueva Segovia<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (modern Lal-lo), Pata was one of the earliest missions in the Cagayan Valley region. The mission itself was founded in 1595 under the patronage of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Santa Maria Magdalena<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (Noche 2004). The ruins of the church (Fig. 9) are located off the main highway in Brgy. Namuac, in Sanchez Mira, and can be accessed by walking along a short dirt path that passes the house of the caretaker of the ruins, Mrs. Elizabeth Martinez. Pinagsimbaanan (the name locals call the ruins) is quite a large complex. There were a few instances that I thought I had surveyed the whole compound when I realized there is another part that I had not seen. Another mission, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">San Jose<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, was established in 1865 (Noche 2004).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Saint Joseph Parish still serves as the main church of Claveria. The front of the church is renovated, but the remains of the historical church can be found in the back. There we were able to see the original stone walls that framed the structure. For archaeological research, however, the only possible location for further work is an open field in the eastern part of the church compound.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-977\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-9-Santa-Maria-Magdalena-Church-Ruins-Sanchez-Mira.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"752\" height=\"564\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-9-Santa-Maria-Magdalena-Church-Ruins-Sanchez-Mira.jpg 752w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-9-Santa-Maria-Magdalena-Church-Ruins-Sanchez-Mira-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 752px) 100vw, 752px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 9. Wall of the Santa Maria Magdalena Church Ruins in Sanchez Mira (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h2><b>Isabela<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prior to heading back to Manila, we checked off the last two sites on our list: The Roman Catholic Church of San Pablo (Fig. 10) and the San Matias Parish (Fig. 11) in Tumauini in Isabela. The ruins of the San Pablo Church, established in 1624, dominates a plaza in Barangay Poblacion. While the frontage is overgrown with weeds and appears to not be taken care of, the church itself is still very much functioning. I looked inside and there were maintenance people doing work in the interior. There appeared to be major renovations happening as crews could be seen working in the surroundings of the church.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-978\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-10-San-Pablo-Apostol-Church-San-Pablo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"794\" height=\"596\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-10-San-Pablo-Apostol-Church-San-Pablo.jpg 794w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-10-San-Pablo-Apostol-Church-San-Pablo-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-10-San-Pablo-Apostol-Church-San-Pablo-768x576.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 794px) 100vw, 794px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 10. San Pablo Apostol Church (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">San Pablo was one of the earliest Christian settlements in Isabela. It was established as a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reduccion <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">under the name <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Santa Catalina de Siena de Maquila<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> along with <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">San Pablo de Pilitan<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">San Ildefonso de<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Navalangan<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Later, the settlement\u2019s name was changed to Cabagan. In 1888, the town was divided to Cabagan Viejo (present-day San Pablo) and Cabagan Nuevo which is now the town called Cabagan (Jose 2018).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The church in Tumauini has its beginnings as a chapel in honor of St. Matthias the Apostle in 1707, with construction of the current church beginning in 1783 (Jose 2011a). There are still bricks with the year \u201c1783\u201d inscribed in the walls of the church. The bricks used were made in the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">horno <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(Fig. 12) that is now within the West Central School grounds. We could only view the top part of the kiln as it was under a pile of sand\u2014there is ongoing construction inside the school. While San Pablo has a frontage and spaces at the back that will accommodate a few trenches for excavation, St. Matthias is almost completely built up so that plotting a square for archaeological excavation is not feasible.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-979\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-11-St.-Matthias-Church-Tumauini.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"767\" height=\"575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-11-St.-Matthias-Church-Tumauini.jpg 767w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-11-St.-Matthias-Church-Tumauini-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 767px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 11. St. Matthias Church in Tumauini (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-980\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-12-Horno-Tumauini.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"639\" height=\"479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-12-Horno-Tumauini.jpg 639w, https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Figure-12-Horno-Tumauini-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 100vw, 639px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figure 12. Horno in the West Central School in Tumauini, Isabela (Photo by M. Mabanag)<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<h3><b>Phew! So, what\u2019s next?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the end of the survey, we were quite overwhelmed with the number of sites, and Mylene, Kevin and Michael assured us that there are more! A good number of the sites meet the criteria of what an ideal site is for our research. The difficult bit is trying to pare down the list to focus on sites that we will be working on in more detail for the remainder of the project. We are all foreseeing this to be a long-term cultural heritage project between the Cagayan Museum and, by extension, the Cagayan Provincial Government, the many component LGUs and UP-ASP.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is particularly interesting to me though was a bit of information Michael and Kevin shared with me. They mentioned that there are ethnobotanical studies on the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Itawit<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agta<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the Cagayan Museum\u2019s stores of documents. Aside from these, I also have an ethnobotanical survey of the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gaddangs<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, one of the Indigenous peoples whose homeland is centered in Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya prior to the migration of the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ilocanos<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from the northwest of Luzon. Cagayan and Isabela are long known producers of tobacco (H<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nicotiana tabacum<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, cacao (J<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Theobrama <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">cacao) and corn (P<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zea mays<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">)<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8212; crops all introduced during the Galleon Trade from the 17<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to 18<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">th<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> centuries.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Soon, I hope to be able to look for, and study, plantations of these New World species to understand how human-environment interactions in these areas may have changed from the time before the Spanish arrived to the present times. The <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Itawit<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Agta<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gaddang<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ethnobotanical records are potentially useful resources for my research in this regard as these offer me a baseline from which I can measure against plant remains we may be able to collect in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>References<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jose, Regalado T. 2011a. A Visual Documentation of Fil-Hispanic Churches Part III: Tumauini, Isabela.\u00a0 <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philippiniana Sacra <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">46 (137): 383-418.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jose, Regalado T. 2011b. A Visual Documentation of Fil-Hispanic Churches Part IV: Parish Church of San Raymundo de Pe\u00f1afort. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philippiniana Sacra <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">46 (138): 693-730.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jose, Regalado T. 2018. A Visual Documentation of Fil-Hispanic Churches \u2013 Part XIX: The Church of San Pablo Apostol in Cabagan Viejo (Now San Pablo), Isabela. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philippiniana Sacra <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">53 (160): 527-588.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jose, Regalado T. 2019a. A Visual Documentation of Fil-Hispanic Churches \u2013 Part XX: The Churches of Lallo and Tocolana in Cagayan. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philippiniana Sacra <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">54 (161): 69-124.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jose, Regalado T. 2019b. A Visual Documentation of Fil-Hispanic Churches \u2013 Part XXI: The Church of San Jacinto de Polonia in Camalaniugan, Cagayan. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philippiniana Sacra <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">54 (162): 317-350.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jose, Regalado T. 2020. A Visual Documentation of Fil-Hispanic Churches \u2013 Part XXV: The Church of Santa Catalina de Alejandria in Gattaran, Cagayan. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philippiniana Sacra <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">55 (166): 499-532.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Macarrubo, P.W. 2019. Tuguegarao\u2019s Saint Peter\u2019s Cathedral: Its History and Conservation. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philippiniana Sacra <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">54 (163): 499-534.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Noche, Manuel M.L. 2004. The Dominican Missionaries in the Cagayan Valley: Their Missions and Architecture. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philippiniana Sacra <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">39 (117): 533-578.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Acknowledgments<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We would like to express our gratitude to Mayor Maila Rosario S. Ting-Que, the Tuguegarao City Government, and Mr. Raul Ting for hosting the survey team during our time in Cagayan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the 26th anniversary of the founding of the University of the Philippines\u2019 Archaeological Studies Program (UP-ASP) on August 24, 2021, an architect named Michael&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,4],"tags":[12,165,119,164,86,98,157],"class_list":["post-967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-blog","category-posts","tag-archaeology","tag-cagayan","tag-colonisation","tag-ecr","tag-philippines","tag-tropical-forests","tag-university-of-the-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=967"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":986,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967\/revisions\/986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pantrop.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}