Stolen artefacts point to lost Philippines tribe

Telegraph ^ | 24 Oct 2008 | Thomas Bell

[BGHater]

Archaeologists in the Philippines believe they have discovered evidence of a lost tribe in sacks of broken pottery seized from antiquity smugglers.

Twenty-two sacks of pottery, including burial urns sculpted in human form believed to be more than 2,000 years old, were found loaded on a tricycle in Sarangani province on the Filipino island of Mindanao in August.

It is thought that they originated in the neighbouring province of Sultan Kudarat, but the precise location remains a mystery and there are fears that the tribe has in effect been lost again because the artefacts were moved by treasure hunters.

A man who said he owned the artefacts showed police what appeared to be forged documents. The authorities contacted Eusebio Dizon, the head of the archaeological unit at the National Museum, who has studied ancient burial jars before.

“These ones are really different,” he said. “They are a different people. The pottery has human faces that show emotions.

“The Manobos, Tirurays and B’laans tribes that have survived over time do not bury their dead in painted anthropomorphic jars. So, we have no idea what kind of people are behind these unique burial jars.”

“The more important thing is to find out the location, the origin of these shards,” said Dr Dizon.

Scholars believe the site could be one of the earliest human habitations in the Philippines and are anxious to examine whatever evidence remains in its original location.

But finding it will not be easy. The museum lacks resources for a major expedition and the area is rife with Muslim rebels whose fight for a separate homeland recently escalated. The rebels demand huge payments to allow archaeologists to work.

The haul was found somewhere near Palembang town in Sultan Kudarat province

[BGHater]

Ping.

Sadly, no Hobbits were found.

[Puppage]

What’s an artefact?

[billorites]

"there are fears that the tribe has in effect been lost again..."

Until they show up on the voter rolls in Ohio.

[Red Badger]

The rebels demand huge payments to allow archaeologists to work.

Pay them in Zimbabwe Dollars...............

[BGHater]

Indeed, I always thought that we should have election day on Halloween.

The dead rise and vote and zombie voters are only following orders from some evil force.

[Red Badger]

LOL!!!.............

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks BGHater. This is another of the topics which hadn't been pinged before Digest #223. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[xcamel]

There seems to be a couple of very large “dong protectors” in that pile...

[pabianice]

And they’re all registered to vote in Chicago...