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Earthenware Ceramics in the Philippines

Earthenware Ceramics are ceramics/pottery that have not been fired to the point of vitrification. Other types of ceramics/pottery like Tradeware and Stoneware have been fired at high enough temperatures to vitrify. Earthenware Ceramics in the Philippines are mainly differentiated from Tradeware and Stoneware Ceramics by the materials used during the process and the temperature at which they are fired. Additionally, Earthenware and Stoneware Ceramics can generally be referred to as ceramics that are made with local materials, while Tradeware Ceramics can generally be referred to as ceramics that are made with non-local materials.

Timeline

Colonial Philippines

The colonial period (c. 1521-1898) in the Philippines began in 1521 when Ferdinand Magellan first discovered the Philippines and would end in 1898 when the Spanish government would sell the Philippines to the United States.

By the establishment of the Manila-Acapulco Trade, or the Manila Galleon Trade, in 1565, trade in the Philippines would start to decline as local populations and economies would be disrupted and displaced. A direct consequence of this destruction of villages and prestige goods-based economies would be the decrease in production of earthenware as well as the fragmentation of lowlanders from the highlanders.

Central Philippines

The region, Central Philippines, refers to the regions below Luzon and above Mindanao, which includes the Visayas.

Western Philippines Underwater Archaeological Sites

Comiran Island (Lumbucan Reef)

Comiran Island is an island located in the West Philippine Sea south of Bugsuk Island and east of Balabac Island in the Province of Palawan, Mimaropa .

Partial survey of the site revealed evidence of earthenware sherds and a part of stove. (Dizon 2003:6)

Pandanan Island (Pandanan Shipwreck)

Pandanan Island is an island located in the West Philippine Sea in the Municipality of Balabac, Province of Palawan, Mimaropa (8° 17′ 25.22″ N, 117° 13′ 32.48″ E). The island of Pandanan is a relatively small island with the shape of a quadrangle and dimensions measured to be approximately 9.6 km long and 4 km wide. (Dizon 2003:7, Tanaka & Dizon 2011, Orillaneda 2000:39-44)

The Pandanan Shipwreck was first discovered on accident in 1993 by Mr. Gordirilla, a pearl-farm diver working at Ecofarm Resource Inc., when he was looking for a missing pearl basket in the seabed. Initial investigation of the site by the National Museum of the Philippines in June of 1993 would pinpoint the wreckage of a seacraft to be located under a coral reef about 250 meters northeast off the coasts of Pandanan at a depth of 40 meters below sea level (8° 9’ 48” N, 117° 3’ 6” E). Geographically, this area resides in a strait that serves as a passageway connecting the South China Sea to the Sulu Sea. Underwater archaeological excavation would proceed from February to May of 1995 and yield relatively well-preserved remains of a wooden ship (25 to 30 meters long and 6 to 8 meters wide) with a cargo of Vietnamese, Thai, and Chinese ceramics. 4,722 artifacts were recovered and were divided into various categories: Chinese porcelain and stonewares, porcelain of northern Vietnam, porcelain and stonewares of central Vietnam, porcelain and stonewares of Thailand, metal artifacts, coins, glass artifacts, and stone tools. About 72.4 percent of these findings were traced to be of Vietnamese origin or under the categorization of Vietnamese ceramics. Of the 4,722 artifacts, 301 of it would be earthenware vessels and fragments. Earthenware can be divided into five categories: pots, lids, jarlets, pouring vessels, and stoves. Comparisons among earthenwares excavated in the Pandanan Shipwreck Site and sites in the Philippines reveal several similarities like the pouring vessels in the Calatagan Sites in Batangas Province, Luzon Island that utilize a pot with incised design and a pot with polishing marks at the bottom, the stoves in Sta Ana Site in Manila, and the Butuan Sites in Northeastern Mindanao, which may suggest that the Pandanan ship may have been trading in those areas prior to its ill-fated trip. Probable causes of the wreckage can attributed to abrupt changes in weather between amihan, the prevailing wind from the northeast (December to April), and habagat, the prevailing southwest wind (May to November), strong typhoons, or other hazardous navigational factors like coral reefs. Scholars estimate the date of the sinking to have been somewhere from the mid-15th century to the late 15th century based on the periods that a majority of these ceramics belonged to. The earliest artifact, a Chinese coin, has been identified to be from the time of Yung-le (1403-1424 AD). Overall, these findings would highlight the presence of an active network of trade and interaction between mainland and island Southeast Asia in Pre-Spanish Philippines. (Dizon 2003:9-11, Tanaka & Dizon 2011, Orillaneda 2000:39-44)

Rasa Island

Rasa Island is an island located in the Sulu Sea south of Arena Island near the Municipality of Narra, Province of Palawan, Mimaropa (9° 13′ 25″ N, 118° 26′ 35″E).

Partial survey of the site revealed that it was probably a jar burial site with evidence of earthenware jars and pottery fragments present. (Dizon 2003:7)

Ramos Island (Secam Island)

Ramos Island is an island located just above Balabac Island in the Municipality of Balabac, Mimaropa (8° 6′ 0″ N, 117° 2′ 0″ E).

Partial survey of the site revealed evidence of an earthenware stove and jar fragments. (Dizon 2003:7)

North Mangsee Island (Simanahan Reef)

North Mangsee Island is located between the South China Sea and Sulu Sea in the Municipality of Balabac, Mimaropa and resides by the international treaty limits that separates the Philippines from Malaysia (7° 30′ 36.8″ N, 117° 18′ 37.7″ E).

Partial survey of the site revealed evidence of ceramic sherds and iron ingots. (Dizon 2003:7)

Southern Philippines

The region, Southern Philippines, refers to the region that includes the island ofMindanao and its associated islands, Surigao del Norte, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.

Mindanao (Maitum)

Mindanao is the second-largest island in the Philippines located south of Negros,Siquijor, Bohol, Leyte, and Samar.

This site is located in the Municipality of Maitum, Province of Sarangani, Soccsksargen.

Maitum anthropomorphic pottery

Tawi-Tawi

Tawi-Tawi is a group of islands located in the southernmost region of the Philippines known as Bangsamoro and resides by the international treaty limits that separates the Philippines from Malaysia.