Recovered artifacts to be displayed at city gallery

SOME pieces of the 113 broken pieces and shards of artifacts excavated from a drainage project digging site in Iloilo City will be displayed at the Iloilo City Gallery to remind everyone of the rich cultural heritage of the city.

However, representatives from the Museo Iloilo headed by curator James Amsua were puzzled of the artifacts found. The artifacts were ceramic plates, bowls, jars, and other pieces believed to be of the Ming Dynasty but mixed with rather modern pieces such as old British whiskey bottles.

City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog received the artifacts last July 9 from the drainage project contractor VN Grande Construction after workers found the artifacts buried some two feet under street level.

The city mayor is happy with the find and said the artifacts show the rich and affluent life of the Ilonggos, their rich cultural heritage and tradition during the olden times.

Mabilog designates Joren Sartorio, chief of the general services office as custodian of the mixed artifacts.

Sartorio said the representatives of Museo Iloilo and the National Museum believed the recovered mixed artifacts to be part of a private collection buried in the site by an unidentified collector in the area.

Sartorio said the area is near the Iloilo River that was once a barter site of the galleon trade plying between the Philippines, Europe including China during the Spanish times. The collection might be owned by a Chinese trader or someone who buried or left the artifacts in the site, once a marshland before the development of the city proper.

A team from the National Museum in Manila recommended the carbon dating of the find to determine its age and be hailed a national treasure. Some of the find will be turned over to the Iloilo Museo while some will be displayed at the City Gallery.