Long before the Spanish arrived, ancient Filipinos lived in scattered villages ruled by chieftains and shared a common culture including religion, housing, governance and economic activities. They had their own literature as seen in folk stories, plays and songs that showed their customs and traditions. While some records were destroyed by the Spanish, folk songs and manuscripts collected by publishers provided evidence of a distinct pre-Hispanic Filipino culture, including their own alphabet similar to other Malayo-Polynesian scripts. Villages were called barangays and ruled by local leaders known as datus. Filipinos believed in a pantheon of gods and spirits and had varied styles of dress that indicated social status.