As the commemorations of the Philippine Quincentennial are mounting to its anniversary on April 27, we are featuring for this Maritime Monday the San Isidro shipwreck, which dates to the 16th century – around the time of our ancestors’ first European encounter. This contributes to historical claims that trade with neighboring countries existed even before Ferdinand Magellan and his crew reached our shores.
This wreck site was found during an underwater survey conducted by the NationalMuseumPH and the Far Eastern Foundation for Nautical Archaeology at a depth between 42 to 44 m and about 9 km from the shoreline of Barangay San Isidro, Cabangan Municipality, Zambales Province.
Objects recovered from the San Isidro wreck site are housed at the National Museum of Anthropology (NMA), which has closed again due to community quarantine restrictions. In the meantime, know more about our work and collections through this series, and expect an upgraded exhibition on three centuries of maritime trade soon. Click the link in our profile for the virtual tour of selected exhibitions at the NMA to give you a glimpse of parallel tradeware ceramics.
Our heritage and recounting its narrative through material culture benefits future generations and our aspirations as a nation. If you see or have knowledge of sites being looted, report immediately to your local government authorities or contact the closest National Museum PH office near you.
Text and poster by the NMP Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage Division
San Isidro photos by F. Osada, ©Far Eastern Foundation for Nautical Archaeology
You may want to read: