This study analyses earthenware vessels, including foreign ceramics and other objects found in 15th century burials in the Philippines, to determine the effects of foreign trade and influence on social identity and stratification. Specifically it focuses on the pre-Spanish polity of Calatagan, constrasting its evidence with previous studies on other areas of the Philippines. Calatagan, it seems, did not follow developments on the mainland, but retained a non-standardised pottery, and Barretto-Tesoro argues for a heterarchical society.