November 2012 – Artifact of the Month

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Solid shot ‘cannon ball’ (?) recovered from Independence Square in Independence Park. (Photo courtesy NPS, 2012)

CANNON SHOT DISCOVERED AT INDEPENDENCE PARK (??)
This spherical metal object, 2.9 inches in diameter, was discovered in late October in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. A contractor found the object during removal of a tree stump in Independence Square (south of Independence Hall/’The State House’). It had laid buried, undisturbed, among the tree roots below the ground surface. Weighting just under 3 lbs, this cast iron object is thought to be a round of solid shot (in other words, a projectile commonly called a cannon ball). It is possible to see an impact mark left by the landscape machinery on the corroded and abraded surface of the shot.

Using x-ray equipment, the Philadelphia Police Department Bomb Squad confirmed for Park personnel that the object is solid and is not a hazard to the public (as opposed to a shell containing an explosive charge that could pose a possible danger).

There is no way to specifically determine a date for this particular chunk of cast iron based on just its physical characteristics alone. However, the square around Independence Hall was used to store ordinance during the Revolutionary War, and the size of the shot was common both then (during the period circa 1775-76) and during the time of the War of 1812. Independence Square was also home during the Civil War to a recruitment center called Camp Independence in 1862.

The piece of shot will be curated as part of Independence Park’s archeological collection.


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