Arcane Steve | 30 Nov 2021 3:51 a.m. PST |
My latest blog looks at some interesting finds on my Brothers allotment, situated in the shadow of Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight. He has been digging up these stones on his allotment. We think that they are gun stones or cannon balls but would welcome any input from the collective! To read more please click on the link to my blog: link Here's a picture of a sample of the items found:
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BillyNM | 30 Nov 2021 5:07 a.m. PST |
If you have found a significant number on a single allotment it is unlikely they were fired to all end up in such a small area. The rougher side of the ball pictured if more likely due to partial exposure to wear and the weather. So if gun stomes they would have to been dumped here for a reason. Have you photos of the full collection together with details of how many and the dimensions and weights of each? Have you actually confirmed eth smaller balls are made of stone; corroded lead shot can look similar and it is hard to ell from the photo. |
Arcane Steve | 30 Nov 2021 7:41 a.m. PST |
Hi BillyNM, the balls have been found across a couple of allotments and the allotments cover quite a large area. There's no 'collection' as such – the stones have been found individually over time and passed on to various interested party's by the allotment tennants. The smaller ball is definitely stone not lead. Not sure about the weathering – obviously they might have been on the ground at some point but all that have been found were buried at least a spade depth. Like you I suspect some sort of storage but not sure why they would be so far from the castle. Could just have been dumped when superseded by iron shot. |
GamesPoet | 30 Nov 2021 9:24 a.m. PST |
Is some one plotting out/recording where these are being found? Seems like something that could be good for letting archaeologists studying such items from this time period could find useful for identifying an area for research. The better record of where these were located the better choices for studying such an area folks might arrive at. Such kind of efforts might had to an answer. Perhaps even contact the Time Team crew, and see what they might encourage, know, or want to review. |
4DJones | 30 Nov 2021 9:45 a.m. PST |
Is there a quarry nearby? |
MajorB | 30 Nov 2021 10:12 a.m. PST |
Without accurate recording of the exact location of each find and any relevant stratification (including dating evidence) sadly we are never going to find out very much about these artefacts. |
dapeters | 30 Nov 2021 11:19 a.m. PST |
Are their any accounting/records showing them being bought or in an inventory? |
Aidan Campbell | 01 Dec 2021 3:54 a.m. PST |
The first thing I think when I see spherical stones below about 2" diameter is sling shot. Without context/dating evidence you can't say much but you might want to pursue this avenue and establish if all the others have been obviously worked to "perfect" spheres. You might also want to look into just how many have been found and how widely spread they are in terms of establishing if it could have started as a "collection" that has been disturbed and spread by the actions of generations of gardeners digging the soil, or if they are just numerous random individual finds. Could just as easily be marbles for kids to play with? |
Cerdic | 01 Dec 2021 1:21 p.m. PST |
Having grown up on the Island, I can confirm that these were fired while hunting a boggit… |
KeepYourPowderDry | 02 Dec 2021 10:26 p.m. PST |
To find out what they are contact the portable antiquities scheme. If they are what you think they are, then they are potentially important. |
Portolan Games | 04 Dec 2021 8:05 a.m. PST |
They look like a crystalline limestone, or perhaps dolomite. Does that match what is being quarried locally? |
Arcane Steve | 09 Dec 2021 5:10 a.m. PST |
Thanks for your feedback and comments. The portable antiquities scheme looks interesting so I'll pass that on to my Brother on the Isle of Wight. If we find any more information, I'll post it here. Meanwhile, the digging season is over – it will be interesting to see if he finds more when he puts next years potatoes in! |