The Undiscovered Burial Jars (Part 1 of 2)

I thought all the burial jars of Kulaman Plateau had been taken away. To my surprise, when I visited a village at the plateau last summer, I found out that one cave there still contains limestone jars that are about 1,500 years old. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the jars have not been properly preserved.

No, I was not able to go inside the cave, but I was able to see a limestone jar within the premises of the village. I think you’ll understand the story better if I narrate it in chronological order.

I was with the family. We were in Barangay Kuden to see its getting-famous White Cave. In the barangay hall, while the elected chairman was proudly telling us how beautiful his village was, he suddenly said something like, “We also have burial jars here.” In an almost comical manner, our jaws dropped. My mother, my younger brother, and I stared at one another. The two both knew how interested I’d been with the artifacts; they were avid readers of this blog and they were proud of my article on the burial jars that was published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“There,” Mr. Chairman added, pointing at the corner of the barangay hall. When I turned my head, I could not believe what I saw. On the floor was a tiny limestone burial jar, left standing near the wall like an everyday object. “A burial jar,” I said. “I’ve been looking for these.”

Yes, there are still burial jars left in Kulaman

Plateau. The one above is at the barangay hall

of Kuden, Senator Ninoy Aquino.

“We now keep that here inside,” Mr. Chairman said, sneering. “We used to display that outside the barangay hall, but a drunk once defecated on it and broke the cover.”

I was appalled, to say the least, but I said calmly, “Burial jars are valuable. They’re even more special than caves.” I stood up and looked at the jar closely. It was small, not higher than my knees. The edge of the cover had broken off, and the cover no longer fit snugly with the lid. When I peeped down, I saw some plastic materials inside the jar. I took off the cover. Sounding ashamed and amused, Mr. Chairman said, “Some kids here have been using it as a trash can.”

The burial jar was half-filled with wrappers of P1 junk foods. “These jars are very expensive,” I said. “Some of the jars here in Kulaman have been taken to America, and they’re now being sold in the Internet. The price of each one ranges from one hundred thousand to four hundred thousand pesos.” I was referring to the jars in the collection of the Ricky Gervais Museum, in San Francisco.

Mr. Chairman seemed surprised with the figures. “We have more jars,” he said.

(Drop by next Monday for the second part.)

A cousin of mine holds a burial jar in Barangay

Kuden. The size of the jar indicates that it must have

been used to contain the bones of a baby.