How atob came to be - the evolution of stone tidal weir in the Philippines
Dublin Core
Title
How atob came to be - the evolution of stone tidal weir in the Philippines
Description
Stone tidal weirs suggest evolutionary stages of how the human-natural world interacts. From it, “commons” is
reflected in the social and cultural milieus among indigenous/local communities. In the Philippines, an atob is a
stone tidal weir built on a gradually sloping reef by piling up stones as a barrier to sift sea creatures carried by
the receding tide. This presentation is based on three data sets that will explain how atob came to be. The first
set consists of the atob itself. The second set is composed of four related versions of the atob: (a) a simpler weir
namely atob-atob 1, a fish aggregating device (FAD) of stones where fish are caught by hand, (b) panihod
which is like atob-atob 1, except that fish is caught thru a basket, (c) atob-atob 2 which is not exactly a trap, but
an enclosure like a pool to stock live fish for later use, and (d) the mirakolhol (miracle hole), a dug-up hole like
a basin. The third set is the panapok (< pang- ‘instrumental affix’ + tapok ‘to pile up’) or pangatob, (< pang- +
atob ‘to trap’) built in shallow waters that combines FAD with an encircling net dropped from the
boat. Panapok or pangatob is the missing link to the evolution of the atob. Two methods of analysis are
utilized, i.e., a comparative study of material culture, and a semantic analysis of the terms used in naming and
describing the weirs.
In archaeology, the simplest artifact is often identified as the oldest. Could these weirs with the same
features - stone structure, reliance on the tide, and an enclosure - be one and the same, differing only in the
stages of their development as trappers reckon their natural world? My data came from field research between
1990 and 2010, historical materials, and ethnography.
reflected in the social and cultural milieus among indigenous/local communities. In the Philippines, an atob is a
stone tidal weir built on a gradually sloping reef by piling up stones as a barrier to sift sea creatures carried by
the receding tide. This presentation is based on three data sets that will explain how atob came to be. The first
set consists of the atob itself. The second set is composed of four related versions of the atob: (a) a simpler weir
namely atob-atob 1, a fish aggregating device (FAD) of stones where fish are caught by hand, (b) panihod
which is like atob-atob 1, except that fish is caught thru a basket, (c) atob-atob 2 which is not exactly a trap, but
an enclosure like a pool to stock live fish for later use, and (d) the mirakolhol (miracle hole), a dug-up hole like
a basin. The third set is the panapok (< pang- ‘instrumental affix’ + tapok ‘to pile up’) or pangatob, (< pang- +
atob ‘to trap’) built in shallow waters that combines FAD with an encircling net dropped from the
boat. Panapok or pangatob is the missing link to the evolution of the atob. Two methods of analysis are
utilized, i.e., a comparative study of material culture, and a semantic analysis of the terms used in naming and
describing the weirs.
In archaeology, the simplest artifact is often identified as the oldest. Could these weirs with the same
features - stone structure, reliance on the tide, and an enclosure - be one and the same, differing only in the
stages of their development as trappers reckon their natural world? My data came from field research between
1990 and 2010, historical materials, and ethnography.
Creator
Cynthia Neri Zayas
Publisher
The Museum of Underwater Archaeology
Date
2023
Language
English
Bibliographic Citation
Zayas, Cynthia Neri . 2023. “How atob came to be - the evolution of stone tidal weirs in the Philippines.” Edited by Jennifer Craig, Jay Mok, T. Kurt Knoerl, Paul Montgomery, and Bill Jeffrey. In Proceedings of Fifth Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage: Gwangju, The Republic of Korea, November 13-18 2023. The Museum of Underwater Archaeology. URL: https://apconf.omeka.net/exhibits/show/apconfproceedings/item/2012
Files
Citation
Cynthia Neri Zayas, “How atob came to be - the evolution of stone tidal weir in the Philippines,” Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage Proceedings, accessed January 15, 2026, https://apconf.omeka.net/items/show/2012.