Burial Jars on Facebook

I’m glad that I don’t seem to be the only one interested in Kulaman Plateau limestone burial jars and in spreading the word about them. Before I was able to, someone else had created a Facebook page about the archaeological artifacts. I can no longer remember if I searched for the page on Facebook or its creator gave me the link. What I’m sure of is that the man had left a comment in one of my posts here, and then one thing led to another.

See the page for yourself; search for “Cotabato Limestone Burial Jars” on Facebook. The page has photos of burial jars that are in the possession of a family in the United States. The jars were originally bought in the seventies by an American woman named Sally, when she was staying here in the Philippines, and her son created the Facebook page in July last year. Through email, I learned a few personal things about the family and how they acquired the jars, but I am not in a position to reveal them, so you may peruse instead the information that Sally’s son opted to share on Facebook.

The photos on the page are quite valuable. Aside from black-and-white photos of burial jars, it has colored photos of Dulangan Manobos. You can see them in their traditional garbs, some of them showing off some interesting objects: an old man in a loincloth strumming a guitar-like musical instrument, ladies with brass loops dangling from their ears and stacked around their ankles, a chieftain-looking man sporting a conical hat and wielding a wooden staff adorned with strips of metal and intricate carvings, a huge family or a small band of neighbors lining up behind a wooden coffin. Nowadays, you can rarely see Dulangan Manobos in such garments and jewelry.

There’s already a Facebook page for limestone burial jars. I wish there would be someone out there who would create Wikipedia entries for the jars, the Dulangan Manobos, and the caves of Kulaman Plateau. Additional Youtube channels and Blogger blogs could also be thrown in.