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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 discovered the Philippines and ended 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 steadily decline as local populations and economies would become disrupted and displaced. A direct consequence of this would be the decrease in production of earthenware and increased demand for tradewares as prestige goods as a result of this fragmentation of lowlanders from the highlanders.

Earthenware Sites in the Philippines

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 (7° 54' 57.6" N, 117° 13' 13.79" E).

Partial survey of the site revealed evidence of earthenware sherds and a part of stove.

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 kilometers long and 4 kilometers wide.

The Pandanan Shipwreck was 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 from 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
• 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:

1. Pots
2. Lids
3. Jarlets
4. Pouring vessels
5. Stoves

Comparisons among earthenwares excavated in the Pandanan Shipwreck Site and other 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). These findings would highlight the presence of an active network of trade and interaction between mainland and island Southeast Asia in Pre-Spanish Philippines.

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.

Ramos Island (Secam Island)

Ramos Island is an island located just above Balabac Island in the Municipality of Balabac, Mimaropa (8° 10′ 30″ N, 117° 1′ 10″ E).

Partial survey of the site revealed evidence of an earthenware stove and jar fragments.

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.

Southern Philippines

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

Mindanao (Maitum)

Mindanao is the second-largest island in the Philippines located in the southernmost region of the Philippines, south of Negros, Siquijor, Bohol, Leyte, and Samar (8° 00′ 00″ N, 125° 00′ 00″ E).

The site of Maitum is where Maitum anthropomorphic pottery was discovered by Mr. Michael Spadafora, a consulting geologist, when he was treasure-hunting for Japanese World War II gold bars on June 3, 1991. Initial survey of the site by the National Museum of the Philippines later in 1991 pinpointed a Miocene limestone cave about 1,000 meters inland and 6 meters above sea level in Pinol, Municipality of Maitum, Province of Sarangani, South Cotabato, Soccsksargen (6.1303° 00′ 00″ N, 124.3816° 00′ 00″ E). The site showed indications of looting, most likely by treasure hunters, as the entrance of the cave has been damaged, various deposits disturbed, and artifacts being carelessly left on the floor after being dug up. During this time, this region had also been relatively unstable due to the Moro Conflict (1969-2019) between the Government of the Philippines and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Despite this, archaeological excavation of this site would continue and undergo through three phases: the first phase (November 6, 1991 to December 1991), the second phase (April 8, 1992 to May 3, 1992), and the third phase (January 17, 1995 to February 15, 1995).

The archaeological team headed by Dr. Eusebio Dizon would be able to recover 200 artifacts: 29 of which were complete with minor damage, 20 of which were restorable, and the remaining of which were fragments. The Maitum anthropomorphic burial jars of Mindanao are uniquely characterized by designs featuring human figures (arms, hands, breasts), facial features (heads, eyes, ears, nose, mouth), and facial expressions. The people depicted on these pottery are believed to be of the initial inhabitants of Mindanao and the "specific dead persons whose remains they guard".

The types of pottery decoration utilized are:

• paddle impression
• cord-marking
• incision
• geometric incised designs
• angular incised designs
• scroll pattern painted in black (organic carbon derived from burned plant materials and other deteriorated organic materials in clay) and red (hematite painted on the surface before firing)
• foot rings with cut-out patterns

Associated materials of these burial jars would include iron blades, shell implements and ornaments, glass beads and bracelets, human teeth and phalanges, and earthenware jarlets and beads. Comparisons among earthenwares excavated in the Maitum Site and other sites in Southeast Asia reveal several similarities like the earthenware shards from Tambler, the Manunggul Jar from Palawan, and Ban Chiang pottery from Thailand. However, as of now, the Philippines is the only area in Southeast Asia where this type of burial jar can be found. General consensus among scholars have estimated the date of these ceramics to be from the Metal Age in the Philippines, which ranges from 500 BC to 500 AD. These findings would uncover a part of Philippine prehistory that had been lost and forgotten for generations and highlight the importance of protecting, preserving, and conserving archaeological sites in the Philippines.

Tawi-Tawi (Balobok Rockshelter)

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 (5° 12′ 00″ N 120° 05′ 00″ E).

The Balobok Rockshelter is a multi-component habitation site located at Sanga Sanga Island in the Province of Tawi-Tawi (5° 4′ 21″ N, 119 ° 47′ 7″ E). It was first reported to the National Museum of the Philippines in 1966. Partial excavation of the site would be made in 1969. It wouldn't be until the re-excavation of the site in 1992 where it yielded earthenware shards of thick bodied wares and small vessels.

Radiocarbon dating of shell samples split the site into three distinct cultural layers:

1. Cultural Layer I
   • 8000 $\pm$ 110 BP (6050 BP)
   • 8760 $\pm$ 130 BP (6810 BC)
2. Cultural Layer II
   • 7290 $\pm$ 120 BP (5340 BC)
3. Cultural Layer III
   • 5140 $\pm$ 7100 BP (3190 BC)

Of the three distinct cultural layers, earthenware sherds were recovered from Layers II and III. Layer II suggests a hunting and gathering culture based on the lithic tools and debitage, refuse heaps of shells, bones of land and sea animals, and sparse amount of pottery. Layer III suggests a different culture based on the advanced tools like adzes, gouges, and axes, debitage, an opaque glass bead, and the abundance of pottery.

The types of pottery decoration utilized are:

• plain
• polished
• incised
• impressed
• cord-marked
• slipped
• lime inlay
• a combination of the above

Nearby Regions associated with Philippine Earthenware Ceramics

Prehistoric

Based on the analysis of prehistoric pottery in Southeast Asia conducted by Wilhelm G. Solheim II in 2003, red-slipped and small stamp-impressed potteries would travel eastwards throughout island Southeast Asia into the western Pacific by the Nusantao by around 4000 BP.

Early pottery from island Southeast Asia can also be found in:

• Taiwan, associated with the Yuan-shan Culture
• Galumpang at Sulawesi, Indonesia and Batu Ejaya II and Leang Burung at southwestern Sulawesi
• Flores, Indonesia
• Philippines (Palawan, Batanes, Masbate, etc.)
• Marianas, Micronesia
• Lapita Culture

Contemporary

Based on the analysis of contemporary pottery in mainland Southeast Asia conducted by John N. Miksic in 2003, there have been 6 different types of production techniques identified.

1. Type A
   • Thai-Korat; North-East Thailand
   • hollow cylinder without a base
2. Type B
   • Tai; North-Central Thailand
   • slow wheel (turntable) or bat
3. Type C
   • Mon-Khmer; Austronesian?
4. Type D
   • Eastern and Southern India?
   • fast wheel
5. Type E
   • Northern Thailand, Burma
   • fast wheel
6. Type F
   • Central Vietnam
   • fast wheel - similar to Type D and E; scraper - similar to Chinese production?

Of the 6 types, Type C shows similarities to earthenware potteries. Type C earthenware are generally constructed from a pre-form of coils added to a flat base up to the upper rim where it is shaped. The insides and outsides are then either smoothed or scraped by a spatula, paddle, or anvil. Regions that utilize Type C earthenware are situated along the peninsular Malaysia and Vietnam coast.