Ceramic Geochemistry and the Visayan Interaction Sphere: Earthenware Production and Exchange in Precolonial Cebu, Central Philippines

Rhayan Gatbonton Melendres

The procurement of raw materials for pottery production remains a key analytical issue in archaeological studies of ceramics, particularly in maritime Southeast Asia, where patterns of mobility and inter-island interaction have long shaped social and economic dynamics. Ethnoarchaeological evidence frequently indicates a preference for locally available clay of ancient potters. This paper reconceptualizes clay sourcing as a socially embedded practice shaped by mobility, exchange systems, and coastal interactions. It combines ethnoarchaeological data from contemporary pottery-producing communities in Cebu Island (Danao, Liloan, Naga, Sibonga, and Boljoon) and Bohol (Talibon, Calape, Alburquerque, and Valencia) with compositional analyses of precolonial earthenware recovered from the Plaza Independencia Archaeological Site in Cebu City, a coastal settlement predating Spanish colonization. Clay samples were obtained from nearby sources around the site, various locations across Cebu Island, and selected areas in Bohol. These were analyzed using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) to identify the geochemical signatures of archaeological ceramics, ethnographic pottery, and potential raw material sources. Hierarchical cluster analysis and k-means analyses were used to process the geochemical data of the study. The findings point to three interrelated modes of ceramic production and circulation at Plaza Independencia: direct intra-island procurement, intra-island exchange, and inter-island acquisition. These results challenge rigid, distance-based definitions of locality and instead emphasize the importance of maritime connectivity in structuring precolonial ceramic economies. By integrating ethnoarchaeological insights with compositional data, this study advances broader discussions on material sourcing, coastal interaction, and seascape-oriented exchange systems in Island Southeast Asia.