Page 151 - Vol_2_Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaport Trade

122 N. T. Cuevas

Fig. 6.5 Beaterio de la Compaña de Jesus, Intramuros blue and white dish with phoenix design
17th century from Fujian

After a geomorphological study, Bautista inferred that trade ceramics from the
Ayuntamiento site may also have come from other places because the swampy area
had been reclaimed with soil hauled from elsewhere.
Mehan Gardenis another archaeological site that yielded Fujian and Hizen
wares. Mehan Garden is situated in “extramuros” or outside the walls of
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Intramuros. With a land area of approximately 3770 m , it is a historic settlement
site along it were the banks of the Pasig River, approximately 100 m upriver from
Intramuros. It is currently bound by Baesa, Hospital Road, and Arroceros and
P. Burgos streets (Jago-on et al. 2003: 111) Recent urban development has con-
verted part of Mehan Garden into the Universidad de Manila (formerly City College
of Manila) and the Bonifacio Shrine.
Historians and archaeologists believe that Mehan Garden was a Chinese Parian
settlement—the !fth—established in the immediate outskirts of Intramuros.
Residential quarters and a marketplace for the Chinese constituted the Parian
(Cuevas 2014: 22). In 2001, archaeological !nds of abundant quantities of animal
remains such as edible shell!sh, bone from protein-rich animals, and wooden
remains from structures and structural features af!rm that Mehan functioned as a
habitation area. Other !nds include notable amounts of earthenware sherds black-
ened by soot and stonewares from storage jars and porcelain sherds.
In 1967, the National Museum undertook excavations that revealed large
quantities of 17th-century trade wares (Evangelista 1968). It identi!ed later sherd
!nds as having been produced by Fujian kilns dated from the late 17th to the middle
of the 19th century.
Arroceros Forest Park is approximately 500 m northwest of the Mehan Garden
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site (see Fig. 6.3). It measures 21,428 m (2.1 ha) and is located in the district of
Ermita. It is bound to the northeast by the Pasig River, the southwest by Arroceros