The first people to arrive into the Philippines were people called the Negritos. These people crossed land bridges connecting the mainland, Asia, to the Philippines over 30,000 years ago. They survived by hunting, fishing, and gathering fruits and nuts from forests. The Negoritos came from the Stone Age and were extremely skilled with the bow and arrow.
Another group of people, called the Indonesians, sailed in boats from Asia to inhabit the Philippines arriving around 1,000 B.C. They were a more complex group of people producing various weapons including spears, shields, bows and arrows, and blowguns. When the third group of people arrived, the Malays, the Negritos were outnumbered by the many newcomers. "Successive waves of Malays, who arrived from the south, came to outnumber the Negritos" ("Philippines, para. 26). The earliest Malays to arrive came around 200 B.C. These people arrived on land and were the warriors of the people. The last wave arrived during the sixteenth century A.D.; they consisted of Muslims who where recognized of bringing Islam to the Philippines. |