Balangay Shrine Museum

In the 1970s, treasure hunters and then archaeologists began uncovering wooden boats buried in the waterlogged soil at Libertad in Butuan, and what came out changed the picture of the pre-colonial Philippines: plank-built vessels joined edge to edge with wooden dowels and lashed to the frame, the oldest radiocarbon-dated to around the fourth century CE, alongside imported Chinese and Southeast Asian ceramics, gold and metalwork indicating a trading settlement of real significance long before the Spanish arrived. Several balangay have been excavated; some remain in the ground, and the shrine museum is built over the site so that one is displayed in situ in its excavation pit, with others and a display of associated finds nearby. The word balangay is the root of barangay, the smallest unit of Philippine local government - a boat's crew becoming a community. Butuan's National Museum branch in the city centre covers the wider archaeology.

What you actually see

• The boat in situ - a balangay displayed in its excavation pit.
• The plank construction - dowelled and lashed hull technique.
• The trade goods - ceramics and metalwork from the site.
• The site context - the waterlogged ground that preserved them.

When to go

Year-round; weekday hours. The museum is a National Museum branch and closes on Mondays and holidays - confirm before travelling.

Honest expectations

It is small and the presentation is modest. Some boats remain unexcavated in the ground. The site is a short ride from central Butuan, and there is little else immediately around it.

Nearby

The National Museum branch in Butuan city centre is close; the Agusan Marsh is south, and Surigao's coast is east.