By Ma. Bernadette A. Parco
Cebu Daily NewsFirst Posted 10:55:00 04/02/2009
GOLD jewelry was unearthed, again, at the archaeological dig located within the Patrocinio de Maria parish compound in Boljoon town, south of Cebu.
A 14 karat to 18 karat gold necklace measuring 1.1 meter long and weighing 34.1 grams was found in a burial ground along with the remains of a female.
They were unearthed by Capitol heritage consultant Jose Eleazar ?Jobers? Bersales and a team from the University of San Carlos (USC) Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
The monetary value of the necklace, based on current exchange rate, is P22,650 but the historical significance and archaeological value, according to Bersales are ?immeasurable.?
He said the item that was discovered last Monday is a ?very rare inahas or a loop in loop gold necklace.?
?This is, once again, a rare set of gold jewelry recorded from a digging. Most of the gold found are either donated or looted. This is part of a scientific recording,? he added.
?It (necklace) is 400 years, exactly. We think it was made around 1510,? he said.
He added the age of the necklace was determined based on the relative age of the ceramics found within the burial ground.
There is also baseline data available based on the 2007 archaeological dig.
In 2007, a gold chain was discovered in the same area, said Bersales ?but it was not as sophisticated as this find.?
In June last year, the group presented a necklace made from six carnelian gemstones, four red glass beads, six gold spacers and three gold pendants with carvings during a lecture held at the Cebu Cathedral Museum.
Aside from the necklace, they reported to have found 26 burials, antique ceramic dishes and jars and one large gold earring.
Bersales said the age of the necklace can be determined by metallurgical analysis available in Manila.
He said the process is very expensive and will destroy the sample.
Bersales also said that the necklace could have been made here in Cebu.
The significance of the find lies in the fact that Cebuanos were into the gold trade with the Chinese traders during the pre-Spanish era.
?This find means that Boljoon had so much gold, although the gold is not from this town. The gold could be from Toledo, from Hinulawan River,? said Bersales, an archeologist.
?Hinulawan, is the Spanish word for gold. The yellow river was not named Hinulawan because of its color that could have been caused by erosion after the Spaniards cut all trees to build the Sandiego galleon here but because of the gold found in the river,? he added.
He added that the main items traded by the Cebuanos with the Chinese were gold, cotton, rice and pigs.
Bersales said that when Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived, Cebuanos would meet them and exchange their iron with gold.
?They exchanged iron screws from their ships with gold because it (gold) was so common in Cebu that they can throw it away and exchange with iron,? he said.
Another rare find is a covered powder box, Bersales said could have been used to store lime and other materials.
The box has a blue chrysanthemum design and on its lid is an outline of a Chinese boy carrying a string puppet.
He said this item could be dated from the time of Chinese Emperor Hong Zhu between 1488 AD and 1505 AD.
The powder box could have been an heirloom given by the ancestors of the deceased.
The group also found a Chinese ceramic ware unusually placed under the head of the deceased.
A 14 karat to 18 karat gold necklace measuring 1.1 meter long and weighing 34.1 grams was found in a burial ground along with the remains of a female.
They were unearthed by Capitol heritage consultant Jose Eleazar ?Jobers? Bersales and a team from the University of San Carlos (USC) Department of Sociology and Anthropology.
The monetary value of the necklace, based on current exchange rate, is P22,650 but the historical significance and archaeological value, according to Bersales are ?immeasurable.?
He said the item that was discovered last Monday is a ?very rare inahas or a loop in loop gold necklace.?
?This is, once again, a rare set of gold jewelry recorded from a digging. Most of the gold found are either donated or looted. This is part of a scientific recording,? he added.
?It (necklace) is 400 years, exactly. We think it was made around 1510,? he said.
He added the age of the necklace was determined based on the relative age of the ceramics found within the burial ground.
There is also baseline data available based on the 2007 archaeological dig.
In 2007, a gold chain was discovered in the same area, said Bersales ?but it was not as sophisticated as this find.?
In June last year, the group presented a necklace made from six carnelian gemstones, four red glass beads, six gold spacers and three gold pendants with carvings during a lecture held at the Cebu Cathedral Museum.
Aside from the necklace, they reported to have found 26 burials, antique ceramic dishes and jars and one large gold earring.
Bersales said the age of the necklace can be determined by metallurgical analysis available in Manila.
He said the process is very expensive and will destroy the sample.
Bersales also said that the necklace could have been made here in Cebu.
The significance of the find lies in the fact that Cebuanos were into the gold trade with the Chinese traders during the pre-Spanish era.
?This find means that Boljoon had so much gold, although the gold is not from this town. The gold could be from Toledo, from Hinulawan River,? said Bersales, an archeologist.
?Hinulawan, is the Spanish word for gold. The yellow river was not named Hinulawan because of its color that could have been caused by erosion after the Spaniards cut all trees to build the Sandiego galleon here but because of the gold found in the river,? he added.
He added that the main items traded by the Cebuanos with the Chinese were gold, cotton, rice and pigs.
Bersales said that when Spanish explorer Miguel Lopez de Legazpi arrived, Cebuanos would meet them and exchange their iron with gold.
?They exchanged iron screws from their ships with gold because it (gold) was so common in Cebu that they can throw it away and exchange with iron,? he said.
Another rare find is a covered powder box, Bersales said could have been used to store lime and other materials.
The box has a blue chrysanthemum design and on its lid is an outline of a Chinese boy carrying a string puppet.
He said this item could be dated from the time of Chinese Emperor Hong Zhu between 1488 AD and 1505 AD.
The powder box could have been an heirloom given by the ancestors of the deceased.
The group also found a Chinese ceramic ware unusually placed under the head of the deceased.
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