Philippines

In collaboration with the National Museum, IEASM/FEFNA conducts archaeological missions in the Philippines. The main focus of this work is the research, discovery and study of the wrecks of ships sunk on the reefs off the archipelago.



Initiated by textual and/or oral testimonies as well as archaeological discoveries from previous years, underwater surveys are systematically continued using geophysical detection devices in order to deepen research leads and verify working hypotheses.

 Because the discovery of wrecks is of "archaeological, historical or artistic" interest - as identified by French legislation - the IEASM/FEFNA and the National Museum of the Philippines have defined a research project to study the history of the archipelago through trade, from the 8th-9th century to the 18th century. The scientific approach takes into account the study of junks found during systematic searches for wrecks of European origin or following indications provided by fishermen who have brought archaeological material ashore. Mapped, archaeologically assessed and sometimes excavated, the wrecks are named after the reef near the place of their discovery. The cargoes of these merchant ships offer a broad view of Asian production and make it possible to understand and retrace the different stages of trade between the Middle Kingdom and the countries of South-East Asia - the "Nanhai trade" -, the Indian Ocean and the Middle East over more than six centuries.





Until recently, only the final, European phase of trade with the Far East was known, which began with the arrival of the Portuguese in Asia in the 16th century. However, the excavations reveal the forms and intensity of exchanges between China and the riparian countries in the earlier periods, from the 11th to the 15th century. In this way, the cross-fertilisation of the objects found contributes to the historical interpretation of the wreck as a site; it provides information on the activities, behaviour and needs of a human group, and even on the cultural and commercial relations that this group may have had with other groups.

One of the objectives of the IEASM/FEFNA is therefore to inventory, list and study any object, whatever it may be, because it is a witness to a way of life; it is also an instrument for dating... it also reveals the existence and vitality of cultural and commercial exchanges at a given time and makes it possible to discover ancient trade routes. Sometimes excavations reveal the history of exceptional goods, such as porcelain. The Lena and Santa Cruz junks (late 15th century) offer models of these thin-walled porcelains, which would reach Europe a few decades later via the Iberians in the 16th century.



Since the second half of this century, in exchange for porcelain, but also for silks, gold and spices, the Spaniards, who had settled in the Philippines, massively imported coins minted with silver extracted from mines in Mexico and Peru. The Manila galleons, like the San Jose, Nuestra Señora de la Vida and San Diego, were the instruments of these trans-Pacific commercial operations. The Chinese absorbed most of the silver imports and developed a very active trade in the Philippines that extended as far as the Sultanate of Jolo. At the end of the 16th century, the Spanish port of Manila was at its peak. A veritable hub of East Asian trade, it was the almost obligatory crossroads for all traffic. The nationals of the Celestial Empire were omnipresent (approximately 30,000 members), and nearly 90 junks from southern China visited the Spanish colony each year. 

The battle of the San Diego against Olivier de Noort’s Mauritius heralded the supremacy of the Dutch in this region at the beginning of the following century. The Dutch, who were ferrymen of European trade, quickly understood the importance of regional and inter-regional Sino-Asian trade. They endeavoured to prohibit the access of junks to Manila and then tried to disrupt Chinese shipping in order to divert the manna of this purely Asian trade to their own benefit. Through the subtle game of secret oppositions and concealed alliances, the trade became Sino-European and the Chinese Mediterranean entered world history, somewhat obscuring the intra-Asian trade to which it owed its existence.





Although the studies of the wrecks discovered in the Philippines cannot by themselves account for the multiplicity and evolution of the exchanges prior to the era of the Great Companies in South-East Asia, they do contribute to clearing up this vast field of research. The remains of the Griffin bear witness to the opening period and the astonishing worldwide interpenetration of cultures achieved from the 18th century onwards through trade. The history of this ship of the Honourable East India Company provides two characteristic examples of the vitality of inter-Asian maritime circuits and the intensity of international traffic at that time. From archival research to excavation, through the interpretation of results and the discovery of sites with the help of advanced technologies, the intentions of English policy in the China Sea in the second half of the eighteenth century become apparent.