Above: The burial with the ceramics. (JERB)

Here are some photos of the pre-hispanic ceramics that were recovered in Plaza Independencia as a result of the monitoring of the excavations of the road tunnel project. Thanks to Mr. Jose Eleazar Bersales, the deputized officer of the National Museum tasked to monitor the diggings and an archaeologist from the University of San Carlos, for posting these photos in Skyscrapercity Forums.

These artifacts prove that Cebu was indeed a thriving settlement teeming with trade from various parts of Southeast Asia and that Ferdinand Magellan was just a mere “tourist” when he arrived at our shores. It also enables us to appreciate what we read in history books about Cebu’s pre-hispanic history.

The ceramics were found along with burials since it was a practice of the pre-hispanic Cebuanos to accompany their dead with these earthly goods. The dead were also buried beneath the houses so the area where these burials and artifacts were dug was most probably a pre-hispanic settlement.

Below: The pre-hispanic ceramics. (JERB)

Below: The ceramics superimposed on a page of the book “Chinese and Vietnamese Ceramics found in the Philippines” by Rita Ching Tan, et al.