How old are the balangays or Butuan Boats?
OLD ENOUGH. The Butuan Boats, as we call them in the National Museum PH, or the “balangays” as they are popularly known, are the oldest archaeological evidence of watercraft in the Philippines.
The boats likely existed around 689- 968 CE, or the 7th to 10th centuries CE, according to radiocarbon-14 dating of their wood samples. This means that the trees used to construct the boats are about 800-1,100 years old. Its associated artifacts would further attest that they were used during the age of trade with Asian countries and before Spanish colonization.
These pre-Hispanic artifacts are among our National Cultural Treasures, showing the ingenuity of our earliest ancestors and evidence of the great maritime and trading activities.
Excited to personally see the Butuan Boat artifacts? Just come and visit our Eastern-Northern Mindanao Regional Museum and the Balangay Site Museum in Butuan.
You may want to read:
- Butuan Boat
- How were the Balangays Built?
Bigwas
Bigwas blog about Criminal law and Procedure, Criminology and Crimes, Philippine Banking and Finance, Insurance and Investment.