Above: A Thai bluish-green “guan” celadon, a very, very good copy of guans produced in China. The bluish-green and the etched designs give it away as Thai.

Photos courtesy of Mr. Jose Eleazar Bersales.

Several artifacts were unearthed during the monitoring of the excavations of the ongoing road tunnel project at Plaza Independencia yesterday. A team from the National Museum arrived to observe the excavations and retrieve whatever artifacts that could be located. The team along with Mr. Jose Bersales, the deputized officer of the National Museum and an archaeologist from the University of San Carlos, uncovered important local earthenware with intricate incised designs which are among a collection of Chinese (Yuan and early Ming) and Thai ceramics that were retrieved earlier.

In June 2006, the National Museum conducted an archaeological “rescue dig” in anticipation of the start of the construction of the 0.97 kilometer road tunnel that will pass beneath Plaza Independencia. The “rescue dig” however did not cover the entire plaza and only certain strategic sites were dug. Among those recovered were pre-hispanic human bones and some earthenware. Just recently, however, news reports resurfaced about artifacts being uncovered by workers at the project site and sold to the black market. This prompted the National Museum to send a team to monitor the final phase of the road tunnel project.

Plaza Independencia and some strategic parts of downtown Cebu is a rich archaeological field owing perhaps to its history as a prehispanic settlement and trading port. Bruce Fenner’s book entitled “Cebu Under the Spanish Flag, 1521-1896: An Economic-Social History” mentions that Cebu was a thriving port with several trading ships from southeast Asia plying in it even before the arrival of the Spaniards. Previous archaeological diggings conducted in certains parts of the old downtown area in the 1980s which yielded artifacts are proof of this. Artifacts were also uncovered during the construction of the Heritage of Cebu monument in Pari-an in the mid-1990s, the recent construction of a comfort room at the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, among others.

Some of the archaeological sites are actually burial sites since it was the practice of prehispanic Filipinos to bury the dead right beneath their homes. It was also a practice to accompany the dead with jars, jewelry, and other earthly possessions.

Below: A view of the final third of the excavations for the road tunnel.

Below: A large “planggana” type of celadon, destined for the Arab market, retrieved in situ.

Below: The same celadon distinct for its Arab-inspired bracketed rim is typical of large celadon wares that were originally made for the Arab markets but were also bartered in Cebu and elsewhere.

Below: A pumpkin vase, most probably Yuan or early Ming celadonware. Beside it is a late Yuan or early Ming jarlet (ca. 1300s-1400s).