Editing Ship burial (section)

=== Philippines ===
[[File:Planks of a Butuan balangay in the Butuan National Museum.jpg|thumb|Planks from one of the [[Butuan boats]] (c. 689 to 988 AD) from the [[Philippines]]<ref name="Lacsina2014">{{cite book |last1=Lacsina |first1=Ligaya |title=Re-examining the Butuan Boats: Pre-colonial Philippine watercraft |date=2014 |publisher=National Museum of the Philippines |url=https://www.academia.edu/31015958}}</ref><ref name="Lacsina">{{cite book |last1=Lacsina |first1=Ligaya |chapter=Boats of the Precolonial Philippines: Butuan Boats |title=Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures |date=2016 |pages=948–954 |doi=10.1007/978-94-007-7747-7_10279|isbn=978-94-007-7746-0 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314373335}}</ref>]]

There are numerous burial sites in the Philippines that include boat burials and boat-shaped burials. In fact, present-day coffins in the Philippines still resemble canoes made from hollowed out logs. There are two famous sites of burials, the jar burials in [[Batanes]] and in [[Catanauan]]. The burial markers in Batanes are shaped like a boat, with the bow and stern appearing prominently. The markers were made from stone, and were made to appear like the outline of the traditional boat ''[[tataya]]''. Inspection of the Chuhangin and Nakamaya sites in Batanes reveals that the markers were oriented in a Northwest-Southeast direction. Principal site investigators also discovered that the bow of the markers pointed towards the sea. But apparently, when the storms cease to pound on the islands of Batanes, the bow of the boats align with the appearance of the band of the Milky Way Galaxy. This further increases the possibility that the burials were made to align with the cosmos in the belief that the boats would carry the dead to the heavens and the stars.

Some 1500 kilometers from Batanes, the Tuhian beach in Catanauan, Quezon lies another boat-shaped burial site. The boats in Catanauan are also oriented in a Northwest-Southeast direction, with the bow pointing towards the sea. The only difference is that the markers in Batanes were made from [[andesite]] and [[limestone]], while those present in Catanauan were made from [[coral]] slabs. Also, while the markers in Batanes contained a single burial, the Catanauan markers contained multiple burials.<ref>Dy-Liacco, Rafael. [http://journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/asp/article/viewFile/4370/3966] "The Last Voyage of the Dead: The Milky Way and the Boat-Shaped Burial Markers of the Philippines Archipelago"</ref>

The alignment of both of these burial sites served as evidence that people from both sites believed in the idea of the [[afterlife]]. Also, the boats were thought as a vessel for "sailing" to the heavens and the stars. This belief is a widespread idea all around the world, as we know from different burial sites all throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia.

Another burial site in [[Bohol]] was observed by the Spanish during the 16th century. One account of the burial states:

"In some places, they kill slaves and bury them with their masters in order to serve them in the afterlife, this practice is carried out to the extent that many load a ship with more than sixty slaves, fill it up with food and drink, place the dead on board, and the entire vessel including live slaves buried in the earth."<ref>(Quirino and Garcia, 1958)</ref><ref>Tenazas, Rose.[https://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/29791037?uid=3738824&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104847243821 "The Boat-coffin Burial Complex in the Philippines and Its Relation to Similar Practices in Southeast Asia"]</ref>

Perhaps the most famous boat-shaped burial found in the Philippines is the [[Manunggul Jar]]. The jars were excavated from a [[Neolithic]] [[burial site]] in [[Manunggul cave]] of [[Tabon Caves]] at [[Lipuun Point]] at [[Palawan]]. The jars were found to be from 890–710 BC. The main feature of the Manunggul jar is the two human figures seated on a boat at the top handle of its cover. The figures represent the journey of the soul to the afterlife, with another figure serving as his oarsman.<ref>[http://www.nationalmuseum.gov.ph/nationalmuseumbeta/Collections/Archaeo/Manunggul.html "Manunggul Jar"]</ref>

The burial jar with a cover featuring a ship-of-the-dead […] is perhaps unrivaled in Southeast Asia; the work of an artist and master potter. This vessel provides a clear example of a cultural link between the archaeological past and the ethnographic present. The boatman […] is steering rather than paddling the "ship". The mast of the boat was not recovered. Both figures appear to be wearing bands tied over the crowns of their heads and under their jaws; a pattern still found in burial practices among the indigenous peoples in the Southern Philippines. The manner in which the hands of the front figure are folded across the chest is also a widespread practice in the islands when arranging the corpse.

The carved prow and the eye motif of the spirit boat is still found on the traditional watercraft of the Sulu Archipelago, Borneo, and Malaysia. Similarities in the execution of the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth of the figures may be seen today in the wood carving of Taiwan, the Philippines, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.<ref>Fox, Robert B. ''The Tabon Caves: archaeological explorations and excavations on Palawan Island, Philippines.'' Manila : National Museum, 1970. (112, 114)</ref>