Ifugao Rice Terraces

Location: Banaue, Ifugao (Region CAR)
Category: Buildings/Strcutures, Sites/Events
Type: Site, Structure
Status: Level II – With Marker
Listed: UNESCO World Heritage Site
Marker date: 1940
Installed by: Philippines Historical Committee (PHC)

IFUGAO RICE TERRACES

THE IFUGAO RICE TERRACES COVER AN AREA OF NEARLY 400 SQUARE KILOMETERS, AND IF THE WALLS WERE PLACED END TO END, THEY WOULD REACH MORE THAN HALF-WAY AROUND THE EARTH. THOSE OF BANAUE, HAPAO, AND HUNGDUAN ARE AMONG THE OLDEST IN LUZON. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL STUDIES INDICATE THAT IT TOOK THE IFUGAOS MORE THAN 2,000 YEARS TO BUILD THEM. THE STONE-WALLED TERRACES OF IFUGAO ARE THE HIGHEST, BEST BUILT, AND MOST EXTENSIVE IN THE WORLD.

A SINGLE MIGRATING PEOPLE IS BELIEVED TO HAVE CARRIED THE TERRACE CULTURE FROM SOUTH CHINA OR INDO-CHINA ACROSS TO LUZON AND SOUTHERN JAPAN, AND SOUTHWARD TO JAVA AND THE LESSER SUNDA ISLANDS WHICH ARE THE ONLY REGIONS WHERE TRUE RICE TERRACES EXIST. REMAINS INDICATE THAT THE FIRST MIGRATION WAS PROBABLY IN THE SECOND MILLENIUM B.C., AND CARRIED ONLY A MATERIAL CULTURE OF POLISHED STONE, COPPER AND BRONZE; BUT A SECOND MIGRATION, IN THE LATTER PART OF THE FIRST MILLENIUM B.C. BROUGHT ALSO THE USE OF IRON, POTTERY AND WOVEN CLOTH. THE BANAUE PEOPLE REPRESENT THE OLDEST NATIVE FOLK; THOSE OF CENTRAL IFUGAO ARE THE TYPICAL CARRIERS OF THE TERRACE CULTURE; AND THOSE OF THE KIANGAN DISTRICT ARE THE LATEST COMERS INTO THE REGION.