348 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1946 
wares of the early part of this period has been rather defective, be- 
cause, as a rule, they have not been found in tombs—the main source 
of our knowledge of ancient ceramics—either in China or Indochina. 
As a matter of fact, it was prohibited at that time in countries ruled 
by the Chinese Emperor to use ceramics as funerary deposits. How- 
ever, in the Philippines, free of Chinese rule, the inhabitants fre- 
quently deposited in the tombs of their departed ones Chinese ceramics, 
introduced to the Islands by trade. Even though the wares exported 
were not always of the highest quality, they nevertheless are of great 
documentary value. With the aim of filling some gaps in our knowl- 
edge of early Ming ceramics and their use for funerary purposes in 
the Philippines, the writer during several months in 1940 made sys- 
tematic excavations in various parts of the Philippines. Of greatest 
interest was the discovery of three cemeteries on the Hacienda of 
Calatagan in the Province of Batangas, in central Luzon. As the 
material uncovered by these excavations may provide some basis for 
further archeological field work, a short description will be given of 
the collections and the circumstances under which they were made. 
EARLY MING WARES FOUND AT CALATAGAN 
The estate of Calatagan is situated about 150 miles south of Manila 
opposite Lubang Island. A few years ago when the ground was be- 
ing leveled for an airfield, near a natural mound called Penagpatayan, 
some Chinese potsherds were found and given by the owners of the 
estate, Enrico and Jacobo Zobel, to the Manila Museum. When the 
writer’s attention was drawn to these findings, it occurred to him 
that systematically conducted excavations in this locality might lead 
to the discovery of interesting specimens of early Ming ceramics and 
possibly give some information regarding burial customs of the local 
population at that time, and at the beginning of 1940 arrangements 
were made with the owners of the estate for such excavations. We 
not only located a cemetery on the very Penagpatayan mound, but 
also two others nearby, comprising altogether about 70 tombs, chiefly 
from the time of the early Ming dynasty, and yielding hundreds of 
specimens of Chinese and native ceramics, as well as other items. 
The three cemeteries are all situated close to the shore: 
1. Penagpatayan, a few kilometers west of the Calatagan club- 
house, and between the projected airfield and a fish pond. To the 
north are seen the Wolang Boahibo, Cato, Itim, and San Pedrino 
Mountains. The tombs are located on a natural mound with gently 
sloping sides, which have been under cultivation for many years. 
2. The Pulong Bacao (Bakaw) field is located on a flat promontory 
about 1 kilometer northwest from Penagpatayan. <A part of the 
ground had been cultivated for some time, but was now abandoned 
