Laguna Copperplate Inscription

Throughout mans’ prehistoric past, civilizations had risen and fallen. Untold cultures lost and buried by the sands of time, the memory of its’ ancient peoples erased perhaps forever. In its’ ruins, only the broken pieces of a few artifacts give an indication that they once existed. Rarely, do we recover artifacts than can give us a glimpse of how they once lived.

Of extreme importance are drawings, paintings, pictographs, hieroglyphs and in its most sophisticated form - writings. The earliest written record of a civilization marks the beginning of its history. Written artifacts not only let us understand how ancient people thought but also have the potential of rewriting the history of an entire culture.

The story of ancient Filipinos and its rich and thriving culture is a page lost in history. The writings of Antonio Pigafetta, are considered as the earliest known historical accounts of the Philippines. Pigafetta was part of the Spanish Expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan who landed on its’ shores in 1521. What they found was a people and culture unlike their own. However, in their eyes they found it primitive and savage, pagan and uncivilized. Under the guise of Christianity, they assimilated the islands, subjugated the inhabitants and forced their own “civilized” culture. Under its weight, the memory of the ancient culture was buried and was all but forgotten.

But an artifact discovered in 1989 has breathed life into this prehistoric culture and challenges the start of Philippine history to 900 C.E. This 8 x 12 piece of thin copper offers undeniable proof of a civilized society already in place 621 years before the arrival of the Spanish.