Old stone Age - crude stone tools
New Stone Age - polished stone tolls
Iron Age - metal tools and jewelries
Porcelain Age - porcelain wares and ornaments.
It was believed that the earliest man in the Philippines ws similar to the Java man, primitive man discoverd in Java in 1891 through his fossil remains. The artifact, like stone axes chisels, abd fissis dug out in Rizal, Bulacan and Batangas were like those of the Java man. Fossil teeth of the prehistoric carabao and deer were discovered in San Juan. These animas including the elephant and rhinoceros accompanied the earliest man. They must have lived 250,000 years ago.
This prehistoric man had ony crude stone tools, wore no clothing, ate raw food and lived in caves.
He must have come from the mainland of Jave. Then, the Philippines was connected to Asia by means of land bridges.
These brawny people became extinct because they no longer lived during the later part of the Ice Age, when ice covering the earth melted, most of the lands went underwater.
It took quite a time for all the ice to melt. Not all the lands went underwater. Some land Bridges were still existing. A second group of people came to our country. They were the pygmies. They belonged to the New Stone Age. The Negritoes and the Aetas belonged to the Pygmy stock. They used stone axes with round of oval ends. They hundted animals with arrow heads made of obsidian which are glassy hard volcanic rock materials. They must have appeared about 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. Gradually, the sinking of the land connection became completd. These dwarf-men retreated to higher lands. Our country then became a group of about 7,000 islands.
Earlisest Man in the Old Stone Age
The Indonesian migration belonged to the latter part of the New Stone Age and the early part of the Iron Age. Traces of this stock are still existing.
At the foot of the Sierra Madre MOuntains somewher in Tanay region live several tribes of pygmy stock.
The Remontados average from four to five feet in height. They have large eyes, straight hair, medium-bridged nose and brown complexian. The live by hunting wild animals. They do little agriculture using the "Kaingin" system. They gather almaciga, rattan, honey ang gugo to be sold in the market.
The Aeta and the New stone age
The Aetas, also of pygmy stock, average form three to four feet in height. They have dark complexion, curly hair, flat noses, large and far apart eyes, thick kips, and spreading toes. Like the remontados they live hunting wild animals, fishing and farming by means of the kaingin. They live in caves and along river banks.
The dumagats are believed to have come from the south. They average form five to six feet in height. They are sometimes referred to as the "Tall Men." Some have wavy hair. Others have straight, thin lips, high-bridged nose, brown complexion and eyes that are close together. They form the Indonesian migration to the Philippines.
The Malays riding in boats came to Luzon by way of Plawan and Mindoro. There were no more land bridges by this time. The period was between 300 to 200 B.C.
The Malays had iron implements and glass ornaments. They engaged in weaving, pottery and agriculture. They built elevated bamboo houses. They introduced the horse and the carabao. These early Iron-age people were the ancestors of almost 37% of our present population.
The last migration during the Porcelain Age could be traced definitely in the Rizal-Bulacan-Batangas areas. Several stonewares, jars, jewelry, coins and dishes of Chinese characters in ceramics or porcelain were dug out in these provinces. The chinese and Japanese traders must have preferred the safety of Manila Bay and Laguna Bay. Most of our culture had been influenced by these Porcelain Age people. The practice of cremation and coffin jar burial are some examples.
As told by Dr. Austin Craig and as quoted by Isaias Salonga in his Rizal Province Today, a Malayan emperor from Borneo came to Manila. He killed Datu Gambang, ruler of Manila and married the princess of Pasig (daughter of a datu) who cecame his queen. Nadoda Ragam spread wide his rule in the island of Luzon.
In the veins of Rizalenos, therefore, runs the blood of Nadoda Ragam and his Pasig queen. In these same veins runs the blood of the early people who migrated or came here from other countries. Then, it can be said that rizal province is the melting pot of Filipino race.
Rizal Province then and now (1967)
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