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13 Archaeological Distribution of Chinese Porcelain in Mexico 227

1700, with no additional details (Velasquez et al. 2015a: 41). In Potonchán,
Campeche, Kraak porcelains were excavated (Chávez Jiménez 2007: 232).
Excavations in Merida, the most important urban center in Yucatán, founded by
Montejo in 1542, also uncovered a few fragments of Kraak porcelain (Burgos
Villanueva 1995: 73). Siller and Abundis Canales (1985) carried out excavations at
the residence of Montejo, built in 1549, and located at the historical district of
Mérida. Montejo’s descendants owned the property until 1828; from then on, the
building was remodeled and modi!ed by a series of owners (Román Kalisch 2008:
18–19). Based on our on-going studies of the ceramic collections, several poly-
chrome Chine de Commande shards with European patterns are part of the
archaeological assemblage.
In southern New Spain, Asian wares have been found at excavations at the
former monastery of Santo Domingo in Oaxaca, the colonial city of Antequera,
where Kraak and Qing vessels are reported (Gómez Serafín 1994). For the
Soconusco area, rich in resources, especially cacao, based on probate inventories
Gasco (1992: 85) lists eighteenth century examples. Further south, territories that
were part of New Spain but eventually became another kingdom under Spanish
rule, include the old capital of Guatemala, the city of Antigua Guatemala founded in
1543. Excavations at the former monastery of Santo Domingo uncovered deposits
with Kraak porcelain, Ming vessels, Qing dynasty wares (until the Qianlong per-
iod), famille verte, and Imari examples (Kuwayama and Pasinski 2002; Pasinski
2004).
Historical archaeology in Zacatecas has a long way to go. This northern city
originally was a mining town. Throughout the colonial period, silver metal
extraction at the Zacatecas mines and neighboring haciendas proliferated, and the
region became one of the most important mining districts in New Spain. Our
surveys at the former re!ning hacienda of Panuco recovered Wanli period and Qing
dynasty blue on white small fragments (Fournier and Blackman 2010: 331–332).
In the case of Colima, located on the Paci!c coast, at Manzanillo and according
to a probate inventory from 1580, Chinese porcelains were important heirlooms
(Romero de Solís 2005: 252).
The port of San Blas, in Nayarit, also on the Paci!c, was founded in 1531 in the
Matanchén bay and relocated nearby in 1768 as a naval base and shipyard. With the
Bourbon free trade regulation, San Blas became part of the Manila Galleon route
and a port where the vessels landed to get supplies on their way to Acapulco, and to
unload contraband. The Matanchel and San Blas bays, and the ruins of an eigh-
teenth century customs architectural complex were surveyed by
Juan J. G. Bracamontes Gutiérrez as part of his doctoral dissertation (Bracamontes
2013). He found one Wanli blue on white shard, several fragments of the peach and
fungus style from the late eighteenth century, and a few Nankin style and Canton
plate shards, dating to the Qianlong (1736–1795), Jianqing (1796–1820), and
Daoguang (1821–1850) periods (Fournier and Bracamontes 2010).
Further north close to the coast, the town of Sinaloa (today de Leyva) was
established in the late 1500s. Excavations at the ruins of the Jesuit church there
uncovered a few Wanli period blue on white bowls and plates, and some examples