The Spanish Philippines: Archaeological Perspectives on Colonial Economics and Society

Author: Skowronek R.K.

Source: International Journal of Historical Archaeology, Volume 02, Number 1, March 1998 , pp. 45-71(27)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

When scholars consider Spanish colonialism in the Philippines their impressions are based largely on documentary evidence of their 377-year colonial presence and on romanticized impressions of the larger Spanish empire. In the New World, wherever Europeans settled, there is a clear break in the archaeological sequence of pre-Columbian cultural traditions. In the systemic context these changes continue to be evidenced in architectural style, city plan, and diet. Today, however, archaeologists working in Luzon, Cebu, and Mindanao are revealing vast differences between the nature of Spanish colonialism in the Philippines and that seen in the Americas. There, the remoteness of the colony from Europe, combined with its geographical position on the doorstep of China, created a unique Spanish colonial adaptation that reveals the significance of Asia in the world economic order.

Keywords: Spanish Philippines; commerce; acculturation; ceramics

Language: English

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA 95053

Publication date: 1998-03-01