The limestone jars were discovered about half a century ago. They were taken from the caves of the plateau and then shipped to museums and private collections. Today, the people of Kulaman have to travel for hundreds of miles to see the jars. They are not even allowed to touch them.
 |
| A screenshot of the University of Santo Tomas website |
An archaeologist from the University of Hawaii, in a paper in 1973, stated in passing that the first artifacts taken from Kulaman were brought to the University of Santo Tomas in Manila in 1954. The university’s museum, however, or at least on its website, does not expressly label the burial jars in its collection as finds from the Kulaman Plateau. Furthermore, no records online exist as to how and where exactly these jars were discovered.
No formal research was made on the Kulaman jars until almost ten years later. In 1963–64, a team led by Marcelino Maceda, of the University of San Carlos in Cebu, conducted the first documented archaeological excavations in the caves of Kulaman, which was then a village of the Municipality of Kalamansig in Sultan Kudarat Province. Today, Kulaman is the seat of government of the Municipality of Senator Ninoy Aquino. Maceda discovered at least a dozen limestone jars, and they are now on display at the University of San Carlos Museum.
In 1965–66, Samuel Briones led the second exploration. Briones was then a graduate student at the Silliman University in Dumaguete. He reported the presence of limestone jars and pottery vessels in the caves and rock-shelters of Salangsang, still located in the Kulaman Plateau but officially a village of the Municipality of Lebak. Soon after, in 1967–68, two foreign anthropologists conducted further research in the area: Edward B. Kurjack, of the University of Miami, and Craig T. Sheldon, of the University of Oregon. The researchers tested the human bones in one of the urns, and the result showed that the bones were that of someone who lived in about 585 AD.
The Salangsang urns can now be viewed at the archaeological collection of the Silliman University Anthropology Museum. Some of them, however, found their way to the non-academe, privately owned Ayala Museum in Makati City.
Another private collection that includes the limestone urns is that of Richard Gervais in San Francisco, California. In the possession of the antique shop are six jars and a fragment, which are all for sale. The prices of the jars range from $2,500 to $4,000. The website of the collection also claims that Gervais has sold two other Kulaman jars that are now on display at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco.
In one paper in 1978, Briones, who had graduated from Silliman and then worked for Mindanao State University in Marawi, stated that the latter institution was conducting further investigations on the limestone jars of Kulaman. So far, however, no additional reports on the jars can be found.
The author of this blog hopes to discover more about the lost jars. For comments and additional information, contact rj2ortega@gmail.com.
 |
| A screenshot of the Ricky Gervais Collection website |
