Ritual Burials, Earthenware, and Maritime Exchange in the Prehistoric Gigantes Islands, Philippines

Gerard John Palaya1*, Nida T. Cuevas1, and Emil Charles Robles2

The Gigantes Islands, a remote archipelago located 18 kilometres northeast of Panay Island in the Western Visayas Sea, central Philippines, occupy a strategic coastal position within the broader Indo-Pacific maritime corridor. Archaeological investigations conducted by the National Museum of the Philippines in 2022 and 2024 at the Rommel Magnate Property, Barangay Gabi, Gigantes Sur, and the Magallanes Property, Gigantes Norte, recovered stratified cultural assemblages consistent with Metal Age occupation (ca. 500 BCE – CE 500). Geomorphological reconstruction of tidal notches on karst walls in Barangay Gabi, supported by paleo shoreline modelling, confirms that the settlement originally occupied a coastal margin, subsequently displaced inland by mid-Holocene sea level regression, situating the site within a dynamic coastal landscape shaped by long-term environmental change. Mortuary evidence comprising extended primary inhumations, burial jars, grave-associated earthenware, and dugong-bone tools reflects structured ritual funerary traditions materially comparable to contemporaneous Metal Age sites across Masbate, Cebu, Negros, and Northern Samar, indicating shared ceremonial identity within an interisland network. Circle-stamped earthenware decorated with lime infill, typologically paralleled at Masbate and Batanes, further substantiates participation in wider Indo-Pacific exchange systems. The recovery of Indo-Pacific drawn glass beads, iron slags, and polychrome shell beads corroborates engagement in coastal economic networks active between 200 BCE and CE 1200. Preliminary ceramic analysis of 1,726 earthenware sherds, predominantly sand- tempered with crushed shell inclusions, raises critical questions of local production versus inter-island importation. These findings position the Gigantes Islands as a nodal coastal community articulating ritualistic traditions and economic exchange within the prehistoric Indo-Pacific region.