[fernando]

I thank you all again to gather at this brain storm.
This device is surely appealing, no doubt.
Now ...
If not a prisoner ball and chain
If also not cannon ball
I would go back to the counterweight version, like those used in mechanical wind mills that pull water from wells ... You know what i mean ?
Tomorrow i'll go around country to look better to those mills.
We all agree, Vandoo, that it could have had two suspension ring loops instead of the present one.
The chain was surely prolongated, as we can see by the different patterns.
Also the first section of the chain could have been looped back to the hipothetical second ring on the ball; that was a brilliant deduction, David.
But then, why the addition ... a second function ?
On the other hand, the chain links are well worn, in both sections. Whatever this device was, its function was not static, like it was dragged or rolled all the time ... and that's an important point to consider.
Concerning the weight, being the ball diameter close to 6", if it were a solid cannon ball, would be a 24 pounder, right ? However we must deduct the hole ... but add the chain.
It is not a grenade or a case shot, as it is not hollowed enough. Its hole is cilindrical and all through; i still wonder why somebody plugged the end contrary to the hanging device.
Just something to keep exercizing one's brains.
Fernando