Early Settlements

Archaeological evidence suggests that the Philippines may have been inhabited
many thousands of years before then, but that can't be stated with certainty. The oldest
human fossil found so far is 22,000 years old.) Little is known of the early human
settlement of the Philippines. Scientific evidence remains inconclusive. There is much
written on the Austronesian peoples of the Southeast Asia area and their descendants.
These peoples were the seafaring people who traveled to distant parts of the world
during this period of history.
The Pleistocene Epoch
It is generally accepted that the first significant human settlement occurred
sometime during the most recent ice age. At that time, 300 000 yrs. ago ,sea levels
were lower, creating land bridges that connected the Southeast Asian mainland to some
of the present-day islands of the Malay Archipelago, south of the Philippine Islands.
Paleolithic hunters from the mainland are said to have followed herds of wild
animals across these land bridges, later finding their way to the Philippine Islands.
Aeta and Agta tribes
These people, ancestors, continue to be primarily hunters and food gatherers,
much as their ancestors were thousands of years ago. They are one of the worlds few
remaining populations of Pygmies, who are characterized by shorter-than-average
height. The Spanish colonizers of the 16th century called them Negritos, a term that is
still widely used today.
About 3000 B.C.

People of Malay and Indonesian descent, who now make up the majority of the
population, are believed to have settled in the Philippines in several waves of migration
after the 3rd century BC. Their languages developed independently because they
settled in widely scattered villages, or balangay. Each balangay included from 30 to 100
families and was ruled by a datu, or chieftain. The economy was one of subsistence,
with each village producing most of what it needed, and land was held in common. The
villagers engaged in both shifting (slash-and-burn) and settled agriculture. Religion was
animistic, or based on the worship of ancestors and other spirits, such as nature deities.
1300s A.D.
Extensive trade is being conducted with India, Indonesia, China, and Japan. Arab
traders from Indonesia introduce Islam to the Filipinos.
Communities in the islands eventually established trade contacts with states in East and
Southeast Asia, particularly China. By the 12th century ad the powerful Sumatra-based
Malay kingdom of Sri Vijaya had extended its considerable influence to the Philippines.
In the 14th century traders and settlers from the Malay Peninsula and Borneo
introduced Islam to the southern islands of the Sulu Archipelago. In the 15th century
Islam was established on the island of Mindanao. By the 16th century the islands had
several Muslim principalities, including one in the Manila area of Luzon. However, no
major political entitykingdom, sultanate, or empirewas established in the islands
until the imposition of Spanish rule in the 16th century.
Trading Centers
In the period between the 7th century to the beginning of the 1400s, numerous
prosperous centers of trade had emerged, including the Kingdom of Namayan which
flourished alongside Manila Bay, , the Rajahnate of Cebu, the Confederation of Panay,
the Rajahnate ofButuan, the Kingdom of Sanfotsi situated in Pangasinan, the Kingdoms
of Zabag and Wak-Wak situated in Pampangaand Aparri (which specialized in trade
with Japan and the Kingdom of Ryukyu in Okinawa).