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Huluga male. Sketch by Nonoy Estarte of Museo de Oro, Xavier University.

 

Miss Cagayan de Oro 2008 Jennifer Precious Gaston

Miss Cagayan de Oro 2008, Jennifer Precious Gaston, wears a slightly modified traditional Higaonon dress. The Higaonon are early settlers of Cagayan de Oro.

This page shows mainly brief notes about Cagayan de Oro history. Click here to see the full article by Dr. Antonio J. Montalvan II.

Webmaster's comment A persistent romantic tale points to the word "kagayhaan" as the origin of "cagayan", but this narrative is not historical.

Webmaster's comment Some websites claim that the earliest discovered human bone in Cagayan de Oro is dated 1,600 BC. The correct figure is 350 AD.

Webmaster's comment An ancient settlement of Cagayan de Oro is the open site in Huluga. Several newspaper reporters incorrectly use the phrase "Huluga Caves" to refer to this place. TheWikipedia entry on Huluga Caves is also inaccurate.

Webmaster's comment This misconception seems to be the result of the popular depiction of early humans as cave dwellers. Although there is truth to this portrayal in many findings worldwide, fossils and artifacts in Huluga caves indicate that the caves were used for burial. The aforementioned human bone dated 350 AD was found in a Huluga cave.

Webmaster's comment Indications of prolonged human habitation were found in the Huluga open site on a hill, now referred to by the Heritage Conservation Advocates (HCA) as Obsidian Hill, which has been damaged by the city government. Huluga, therefore, is an archaeological area composed of two parts -- the caves and the hill. To refer to Huluga as a settlement site, writers should use any of these phrases: Huluga open site or Huluga settlement site. See primer on Huluga.

Webmaster's comment There are other sites in Cagayan de Oro where artifacts and fossils have been found. More studies are needed for these areas and Huluga.

Webmaster's comment In 2004, a team from the University of the Philippines-Archaeological Studies Program (UP-ASP) made a misleading report about Huluga, calling it a "camp-like" area. The team, which ignored a midden in Huluga and several artifacts and fossils found by the HCA, was paid P450,000 by former mayor Vicente Y. Emano, the same person who had destroyed a huge portion of this heritage site. The webmaster has several articles about the ASP report. Two among them:

Webmaster's comment In 2009, a gravesite containing 52 male and female human individuals of varied ages were discovered in Huluga. Nine Sung and Sawangkhalok bowls from this site are on display in the Museum of Three Cultures of Capitol University. Angel Bautista of the National Museum said this finding further establishes Huluga as a settlement site.

Webmaster's comment Some government officials are interested in promoting historical events and objects from the Spanish, American, and Japanese occupation but consistently ignore important precolonial places and people. Mayor Constantino Jaraula, for instance, campaigned for the construction of a monument for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, and Senator Aquilino Pimentel (a native of Cagayan de Oro) recently objected to the sale of a historical building in Japan, but they have no program to protect archaeological sites in Cagayan de Oro.

Webmaster's comment The authority on Cagayan de Oro history is Dr. Antonio J. Montalvan II, curator of the Museum of Three Cultures of Capitol University. His article on the Cagayan de Oro history is in the website about Cagayan de Oro heritage. Excerpt:

Settlement

 

Huluga Skull, Tools, and Boar Tusks


 


 

 

 

Huluga Vase

CAGAYAN DE ORO AND ITS SURROUNDING were occupied by humans around 350 AD. Signs of ancient habitation were discovered in 1970 by field researchers of the National Museum. The researchers were exploring Huluga, a place eight kilometers south of the present Cagayan de Oro City.

Huluga Settlement

Huluga settlement as interpreted by Nonoy Estarte of Museo de Oro, Xavier University.

Huluga is a promontory with two main sections: a set of caves and an Open Site . The Open Site appears to be the village of the original people of Cagayan de Oro.

Inside the cave were skeletons, pots, potsherds, tools, possibly Indian glass beads, Chinese pot fragments, and vestiges of possibly Annamese and Thai wares -- indications of overseas trading. The Open Site yielded potsherds, Chinese celadon sherds, and obsidian flakes.

Print screen capture of Scripps website

Archaeologist Dr. Erlinda M. Burton sent a skull fragment to Dr. Jeffrey Bada of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, where it was subjected to amino acid racemization, a dating technique. Bada then wrote a letter to Burton, stating that the sample came from 1,600 BP (before present) or 350 AD, during the Late Neolithic Period. More.

Updated November 26, 2009.

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DISCLAIMER: A large amount of information is this website was compiled in 2003. Updates are supplied in some sections. User assumes all risk of use. |
See also the updated Cagayan de Oro Tourist and Travel Guide and the Cagayan de Oro profile in the National Statistical Coordination Board.