Archaeologists have officially uncovered the oldest firearm ever found in the continental United States, a 500-year-old bronze cannon. The wall gun is linked to the 16th-century expedition of Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado into the Southwestern United States. It was discovered beneath the remnants of an adobe wall believed to have collapsed during a battle between Coronado’s forces and a local Indigenous tribe.
Measuring 42 inches long and weighing 40 pounds, the two-person portable gun was meant to provide protection for the expedition at their outpost in Arizona’s Santa Cruz Valley. However, the firearm shows no evidence of use, and it was likely abandoned when Spanish forces retreated after an attack on the settlement. Still, its discovery is shedding new light on the Coronado expedition. …
After poring over old manuscripts and surveying terrain in southern Arizona, archaeologist Deni Seymour and her team located a lost settlement of Vázquez de Coronado — and there, Seymour unearthed the oldest firearm ever found in the continental U.S. …
Radiocarbon dating confirmed that the gun dated back to the time of the Coronado expedition.
“This wall gun is the first gun known to be associated with the Coronado expedition and is the oldest firearm ever found within the continental U.S.A., and perhaps the oldest cannon currently known on the continent,” researchers wrote in their study, which has now been published in the International Journal of Historical Archaeology.
— Amber Morgan in Archaeologists Unearth The Oldest Firearm Ever Found In The U.S. At An Adobe Structure In Arizona
“Measuring 42 inches long and weighing 40 pounds, the two-person portable gun was meant to provide protection for the expedition at their outpost in Arizona’s Santa Cruz Valley. However, the firearm shows no evidence of use, and it was likely abandoned when Spanish forces retreated after an attack on the settlement.”
It’s a popular thing among antique items to leave them in the condition they were found, but I hope they restore that one to like-new condition, considering it has never been fired.
And while they are at it, run a few rounds through it, as well…
One of my relatives (on my wife’s side, of course) is a hoarder. We often joke about how we will need to hire an archeologist when we finally intervene.
“….Historical Archeology”
Hmmmm…
I have a brother-in-law (married my sister) who teaches archeology at Temple. Since my sister hates me, I never get to talk with him, otherwise I would ask: isn’t all archeology historical?
“isn’t all archeology historical?”
No.
Archaeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture.
Although primarily dealing with the past or historical (which is the context we mostly hear about) it can be considered both a social science and a branch of humanities study thus can also involve present or non-historical.
And… I’m glad you have a have a brother-in-law that married your sister and not your brother.
😄