Philippines - Butuan Archeological Sites

In 1975, as a result of the construction of an extensive network of large drainage channels, or esteros, to relieve Butuan City from destructive annual floods, significant amounts of archaeological artifacts were discovered that dated back to the Age of Contact with the Great Traditions of Asia, co-eval with the Yueh type wares to Ming Dynasties of ancient China from the 10th Century to the 16th Century AD. 1) The major finds in various areas is the appearance of the remains of large open-water-going boats, the "balanghai" of historical records. The same type of boats and construction has been recovered in Sumatra and Pontian in Malaysia, apparently of the same period. There eleven of these boats: three were fully excavated, two preserved, and the rest still unexcavated. The boats are of Neolithic architecture using a planking edge-peg technology. The boats range in age from the 10th to the 13th century AD.