Kalinga Ceramics

As the soil of the Chico river valley has clay that is particularly good for potterymaking , many of the Kalinga in that area derive a living from this activity. While utility wares are quite plain, the Kalinga also make a distinctive, Lapita-like, decorated pottery, "tattooed" by stamping, of which we are fortunate to have a few examples. These geometric motifs are closely related to those actually used in tattooing; unlike the neighboring Bontok and Ifugao, the Kalinga rarely employ anthropomorphic designs in their art.