Page 167 - Vol_2_Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaport Trade

7 Archaeological Researches on the Manila … 137

took longer and covered a lot of area before the shipwreck was discovered. The
actual wreck site was only determined after a series of veri!cation dives on one of
the numerous anomalies detected which was approximately a kilometre northeast of
Fortune Island and lying 54 m below sea surface level on a mound of stoneware
2
jars and cannons covering approximately 40 by 200 km (Cuevas, Fortune Island
Underwater Archaeological Excavations: A Preliminary Report 1992). The entire
2
survey area is 120.9 km .
The entire project was divided into two seasons. The !rst season was conducted
from February 10 to April 28, 1992 that exposed the shipwreck and recovered
archaeological materials. WWF employed a team of commercial divers due to the
site’s dangerous depth (54 m) that hindered ordinary scuba divers including the
National Museum personnel from working at the site. Additional personnel inclu-
ded a diving doctor, recompression chamber technicians, dive masters, photogra-
phers and the crew of the vessels. The National Museum team included scores of
researchers and technicians who were tasked with the supervision of the excava-
tions and making sure the methodologies implemented conform to the National
Museum standards.
Dive activities were conducted round the clock with two groups of divers doing
alternate shifts. A grid map was established to provide a framework from which all
divers would record their !nds. Two electric submersible pumps were used to
power three water dredges. Artefacts deposited in the mesh were collected, labelled
and bagged. Photo-documentation of the site was done by a separate team of
photographers and videographers who dive at their own schedule to monitor the
excavation work and the exposition of important artefacts.
Recovered archaeological objects were subjected to !rst aid conservation mea-
sures such as the mechanical removal of natural seabed materials like silt and sand
and by desalinisation. Metal and wooden artefacts were treated differently by
storing them in a cool dry place and separating them from the pottery and trade
ware ceramics to avoid contamination and deterioration. All artefacts were acces-
sioned and recorded in the National Museum Inventory Form especially designed
for underwater projects by the National Museum personnel.
More than 34,000 various archaeological specimens were retrieved and acces-
sioned that included ceramics (porcelains, stonewares and earthenwares), arma-
ments (cannons, samurai swords and katanas, swords, muskets, ammunitions),
silver coins and silver wares, metals anchors (helmets, buckles, lead weights and
ingots, bells etc.), glass wares, jewelry and personal ornaments, gold objects (seals,
coins, neck and !nger rings and rosary), necklaces, kitchen wares, wooden objects
and implements, ropes, floral and faunal remains and other unidenti!ed objects
(Goddio 1994).
Signi!cant archaeological objects recovered include navigational instruments
(astrolabe and compass) and implements, fourteen bronze cannons, Chinese blue
and white porcelains (Kraak and Swatow wares), more than 750 Chinese, Thai,
Burmese, and Spanish or Mexican stoneware jars and over seventy Philippine-made
earthenware potteries (Goddio 1994; Alba 1993).