Age of DiscoveryTechnology
Ifugao rice terraces
c. 1600NotableContested
Ifugao communities build vast irrigated rice terraces in the mountains of northern Luzon. Recent excavations suggest much of this happened after Spanish arrival, though the terraces are often called 2,000 years old.
Contested history
Consensus: The Ifugao rice terraces are real and remarkable, but their age is disputed: the popular 2,000-year figure lacks firm archaeological support.
The terraces are about 2,000 years oldMinority view
The figure comes from early 20th-century estimates and is repeated by UNESCO, but rests on assumed growth rates, not direct dating.
Large-scale wet-rice terracing began after about 1600 CEDebated
Excavations led by Stephen Acabado date terrace building and rice farming at Old Kiyyangan to after Spanish arrival, as a response to colonial pressure.
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Learn more ranked by votes
Documentwhc.unesco.org
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (UNESCO World Heritage Centre) ↗Editor's pick
Documentoasis.library.unlv.edu
The Short History of the Ifugao Rice Terraces: A Local Response to the Spanish Conquest (Acabado et al., 2019) ↗Editor's pick