Here are some photos of an excavation made in the town of Boljoon a few months ago. The excavation covered the convent and church grounds of Boljoon. During this particular dig, they found the remains of a pre-Spanish Filipina who was wearing a long gold-chain. Also found beside the body was a ceramic powder box. The dig further proved two things: 1) that Southern Cebu (and the entire island for that matter) was a very progressive trading and commercial post even before the Spaniards arrived and 2) that Cebuanos frequently traded gold, cotton, rice and pigs with the Chinese.
According to a CDN report posted last April 3, 34 burial sites had been uncovered since February 2007.
I finally got the permission to post these photos. So, I would like to thank sir archaeologue of the SSC-Cebu Heritage Watch thread for allowing me to post these amazing photos. FYI, the Cebu Heritage Watch thread is the most active heritage thread in SSC-Philippines. If you read the posts in this thread, you will surely learn a LOT of things.
Uncovered remains of a native in the town of Boljoon, Cebu.
The team working meticulously on Burial 31.
Burials 28, 29, 30, and 31.
A gold chain around the neck of the remains.
It’s a very long chain. I wonder how long it is.
Still in very good condition.
The ceramic ‘powder box’ and the gold chain after they were cleaned.
hala sah. until now the remains are still in good condition. grabeh jud kadugay na sa panahon…narecover paman.
yup. if im not mistaken, ang remains kay more or less 400 years old.
that would make me 370 years younger,hahaha…next one would be finding those boxes full of gold that the japanese hid during the 2nd wwar…freakin jap.why can’t they just tell us where it is…nice pics Ley.
sus. basig naa ra ilawm sa among balay. hahaha
Amazing, the powder box and the gold chain are still in perfect condition. Three decades ago, some people in Luyang are paid by chinese family from Cebu City to dig for gold. Once they found the gold, words spread quick as a flash. Kids running there and im one of it. When they left, were sifting the sands. And bingo i found 1 pcs. of gold like a pcs. of corn kernel. And I run home straight away, otherwise they take it back from me.
wow. pilay value ato @inday?
Maayo gyud bantayan dayon nga dili makawat kining atong national treasures. Baya naman ang nahitabo sa SRP diggings. Pila na lay nahibilin kay nakalusot na ang uban.
Wow, that’s an amazing find! Jackpot gyud.=)
wow, who the findings/treasure belongs to after the excavation? to the SSC heritage? what motivated them to do such diggings? words must have heard over the grape vine about some treasures in boljoon…. oh well, hopefully the province of cebu or some non-profit org. will benefit as such…. not profited org. or personally owned company
im not exactly sure. but i read an article that the artifacts will go to the national government. i also read somewhere else that the treasures will be kept in boljoon. ssc is just an online forum. the dig, i think, was sponsored by the spanish government and USC.
@ Ley, ambot kung toa paba kaha to sa baol ni mader. Or else we sold it to the man shouting ginto pilak.
tagpila kaha ang kantidad ana na gold chain bay ley???
murag mahal gyud kay antique man.
how did the team know that it’s a pre-spanish remain?
the team is lead by experts. so im sure they know what they’re doing/saying.
Ley,
If these remains are pre-Spanish, then they must be older than 400 years? Thanks for the great photos!
yeah. i just realized that, too. i guess i’ll have to check the actual sunstar report again. hehe
wow amazing find!!!
I know the guy holding the necklace. He is from the National Museum, Mr. Jose Santiago… Was it Jojo Bersales in the violet tie dyed shirt?
I was able to meet the first USC-National Museum team way back in Feb 2007 when they did the first excavations there…
Funny experience because the people there and some members of the team thought I was from Sunstar Cebu…
wow nice find naman. kinsa tong mga archeologist diha Pinoy or foreign?
they’re pinoy. from usc.
A couple of years ago a friend of mine who is a very successful professional in Manila took me to his house in a very opulent subdivision in the area. He showed me a treasure trove of antiques in his place. He was very proud of his collections from diggings here and abroad. What stunned me most was his collections of church relics. I had to tell him that those pieces do not belong in his house, since most of them are stolen. (This was the time when heads of Santoses disappeared right before the eyes of the people who venerated them for for ages.) I am not jealous because I can pretty much acquire whatever this person has, I don’t see the point of keeping this stuffs in a home, other than greed and “hambug”. I’m not impressed once this treasures are displayed in a house, nobody should. These pieces belong in a well curated museums. Needless to say, he no longer invites me when I’m in the country.
A truly amazing find! The necklace looks like of contemporary design and along with the powder box it looks like it was buried only a week earlier! Is there a scholarly article on the dig somewhere in the net? Thanks. I just hope this find would not spur indiscriminate diggings there.