The Ifugao Rice Terraces are 400 years old. That matters.

The Ifugao Rice Terraces are 400 years old. That matters.

A trowel (/ˈtraʊ.əl/), in the hands of an archaeologist, is like a trusty sidekick – a tiny, yet mighty, instrument that uncovers ancient secrets, one well-placed scoop at a time. It’s the Sherlock Holmes of the excavation site, revealing clues about the past with every delicate swipe. If history textbooks were grocery aisles, the Ifugao section would probably be somewhere in the back, near the index, filed under “Cultural Minorities” or “Also H…