The
Geological Foundation and the Beginnings of the Filipino Society and Culture
During the Pre-Spanish Period in the Philippines
The beginnings of the Filipino society and culture
can be viewed from the geological and paleontological studies conducted by Jocano
in his book Philippines Pre- History: An Anthropological overview of the
Beginnings of the Filipino Society and
Culture provided comprehensive discussion along these areas. He viewed
that tracing the emergence of man and
the development of his culture in the Philippines is a complex task.It
requires an inter-disciplinary approach. That is, data from disciplines other
than archaeology are also important in shedding light on the intricate problem
of reconstructing pre-historic lifeways. Furthermore, he mentioned that
prehistoric cultures were as much products adaptation to specific ecological
niches as contemporary cultures are. This eventually led the structuring of the
Filipino society and culture until finally
made contacts with the Asian neighbors. The natural setting he presented also
provided a comprehensive background about the geological foundation of the Philippines.1
The
Comparative Geologic Time Scale in the Study of Geological Foundation of the Philippines
1.
Archeozoic
Period ( 1,500- 925 million years) – First traces of life form.
2.
Proterozoic
Period ( 925-570 million years)-Few
simple life forms.
3.
Paleozoic
Period ( 570-225 milion years)
3.1
Cambrian
( 570-500 million years) - First abundant record of marine life.
3.2
Ordovician(500-
440 million years)- First fishes; invertebrates dominant
3.3
Silurian
( 440 – 395 million years) –First terrestrial plants and animals.
3.4
Devonian
( 395-345 million years) – First amphibians; fish abundant.
3.5
Carboniferous
( 345 – 280 million years)
3.5.1
Mississipian
( 345-320 million years) –Sharks and amphibians abundant; large scale trees and
ferns.
3.5.2
Pennsylvanian
(320-280 million years) – Great coal forests; conifers first reptiles.
3.6
Permian
( 280-225 million years) – Extinction of many kinds of marine animals.
3.7
4.
Mesozoic
Period
4.1
Triassic
( 225-190 million years) – First dinossaurs; abundant conifers.
4.2
Jurassic(
190-136 million years) – Fist birds, first mammals; dinossaurs abundant.
4.3
Cretaceous
( 136-53 million years)
4.3.1
Lower
Cretaceous ( 136-110 million years) – First
flowering plants; climax of dinosaurs.
4.3.2
Upper
Cretaceous ( 110- 85 million years) – First placental mammals
4.3.3
Maestrichian (100- 65 million years ) First Primates
4.3.4
Paleocene
( 65-53 million years) Diversified hoofed mammal
5.
Cenozoic
Period
5.1
Tertiary
( 53 – 2 million years)
5.1.1
Eocene
( 53 –37 million years) – many modern types of mammals
5.1.2
Oligocene
( 37- 26 million years)- Large running mammals
5.1.3
Miocene
( 26-7 million years) First abundant grazing animals
5.1.4
Pliocene
( 7-2 million years) Large carnivoress
6.
Pleistocene
Period ( 500,000-9,000 years)
6.1
Lower
Pleistocene( 2 million –500,000 years )
6.1.1
Villa
Franchian ( Europe/ North America)
6.1.2
Gunz
Glacial ( Europe)/ Jerseyan Glacial ( North America)
6.1.3
First Interglacial
6.1.4
Kanjeran Pluvial – for South and East Africa
6.2
Middle
Pleistocene (500,000-105,000 years)
6.2.1
Mindel
Glacial ( Europe) Kansan Glacial( North America) Interpluvial/ Kamasian
Interfluvial for South and East Africa)
6.2.2
Second
Interglacial
6.2.3
Riss
Glacial ( Europe)/ Illinoian- Iowan Glacial ( North America) Interpluvial for
South and East Africa
6.3
Upper Pleistocene ( 105,000 – 9.000 years)
6.3.1
Third
Interglacial
6.3.2
Wurm
Glacial for Europe and North America
6.3.3
Gamblian
Pluvial for South and East
Africa
6.4
Holocene ( 9,000 years and below)
6.4.1
Post
Glacial for Europe and North America
6.4.2
Postpluvial
for South and East Africa
