Four 16th-Century naval guns (or replicas)
on display at Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth,
UK. Far two are culverin near two are demi-cannon.
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Posted on 09/25/2007 6:29:15 PM PDT by Pharmboy
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - An archaeologist is taking a second look at a small cannon found by fishermen off the Virginia coast more than two decades ago in hopes of determining how it got to the bottom of the ocean — and who left it there.
Rod Mather, a professor of maritime history and underwater archaeology at the University of Rhode Island, has studied the 25-square-mile area surrounding the site where the cannon was found the past two summers.
Some historians believe the 4-feet-long, 300-pound cannon, which was loaded when it was found 24 years ago, is an English cannon from the 1580s, making it one of the oldest English artifacts ever found in the Americas.
Others argue that even if the cannon dates back to the 1580s, it could have been in use in the early 17th century when more ships were up and down the Virginia and Carolina coasts.
"If it's a shipwreck, and it's an English shipwreck, it would be the earliest English shipwreck in the New World," Mather said. "If you think about what we know about American history, the fuzzy part is the part about the early exploration of America."
Mather also questions if the cannon could have even more significant historical value _ possibly answering the question of what happened to the so-called Lost Colony.
The "disappearance" of 117 English colonists in the late 1580s on what is now Roanoke Island in North Carolina has baffled experts. Mather suggests the cannon possibly could have been left by the colonists _ either because their ship sank or by simply falling overboard _ as they fled in search of better living conditions.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Somebody dropped it?
I can help them with the first question. Cannons sink.
BTT...
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CROTOAN
>>Archaeologist takes 2nd look at cannon Found off Virginia coast. How did it get there? <<
It evolved from a slightly older, almost identical cannon?
Fascinating. Thanks for posting this!
Also, just because a cannon was made in the 1580’s, doesn’t mean that it was not on a ship that was sailing 40 years later.
Are a hundred years later for that matter, they didn't change a whole lot during the period.
no, blam!
Be nice.
Of course, this thing is only 4’ long. Could be a 6-lber (why don’t they ID it that way?) or any other small-bore field cannon. Not sure about naval cannon; did they make small cannon like 6 lb (never mind swivel guns)?
I definitely wouldn’t discount this cannon, if it really is that old, being mounted on a much-later craft. And simply was jettisoned or “lost”.
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Thanks Pharmboy. Interesting that they were loaded. Sound like this could have been an unsuccessful attempt to sneak up on a better-armed enemy -- perhaps during the Revolution -- with a small, quiet boat, in the middle of the night, that went awry when it capsized. |
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