Patterns of Animal Utilization in the Holocene of the Philippines: A Comparison of Faunal Samples from Four Archaeological Sites

Abstract

Using animal bone assemblages from four archaeological sites, the hypothesis that economies and rituals of prehispanic Philippine societies were restructured by the introduction of various species of terrestrial mammals is examined. Analysis of the faunal assemblages indicates that the primary mammalian species utilized were water buffalo, wild and domestic pigs, and deer. Sites near the coast also contained marine reef fish, but not deep-sea fish. There was unexpected stability in species composition through time, suggesting that water buffalo was introduced to the Philippines at a relatively early date. Dog bones were not identified from domestic deposits. Emphasis on consumption of dog in traditional Filipino societies may be a product of early twentieth-century ethnographic sensationalism, and the premises for this emphasis should be reexamined. Distribution of body parts within and between sites are examined to identify social differences within sites in chiefdom and differences in site utilization in hunter-gatherer sites. KEYWORDS: Faunal analysis, subsistence, Holocene, Philippines, Southeast Asian archaeology.