Possible haquebut ball

[Matchlock]

Hi Marcus,


Nice find, this one!

Are you sure, though, it actually consists of limestone? To me, its unusually smooth - and speckled! - surface rather points at a kind of Austrian marble, known to have been used to form cannon balls: the so-called Untersberger Marmor. It has been continually quarried at Untersberg/Salzburg, for about 2,000 years: from the Ancient Roman period up to the 21st century.

Apart from that, and from various excavations done on historic battleground sites, we have records of pug! balls used with both arquebuses, muskets and pistols, and from the 16th through the 19th centuries.

All the limestone balls I have seen, including a specimen in The Michael Trömner Collection (see attachment), show a markedly porous surface, which is characteristic for that material after being exposed to environmental and/or excavated conditions for five centuries. The surface of the limestone used for the architecture of Gothic cathedrals bears witness of the same phenomena.

Attached find images of characteristic limestone balls for guns.
The first measures ca. 40 mm in diameter, ca. 600 to 400 years old and most probably for a wall gun or a falconet, and was excavated in Regensburg, Bavaria, in 1879!
I also attached photos of the only known limestone grenade, and retaining its original fuse!

All items in The Michael Trömner Collection.
Please note that the scale is in cm.


For comparison, the last images depict five cannon balls made of Untersberger marble (Dorotheum sale, Vienna, 19 Feb 2014, lots 37 and 36)!


All photos, except where noted, copyrighted by Michael Trömner.


Best,
Michl

[Marcus den toom]

Hi Michl,

Thank you for your, as always, extesive answer
I bought this ball yesterday morning, so when it arrives i will make better pictures and hope to find out if it is limestone or marble... or some sort of other rock.

Here is a picture of the clod shot found in the Netherlands. They are dated as early as 1385, the year the castle was destroyed.

[Matchlock]

Hi Marcus,


That clod shot incites me!
Right now that my computer man provided with a provisional email until Outlook will work again:
Please do email me that illustration and let me know whether it is the same group discussed in

Jan Piet Puype & Harm Stevens: Arms and Armour of Knights and Landsknechts, in the Netherlandish Army Museum.
Delft, 2010. ISBN 978-90-5972-413-6, pp. 334-9.

In the book, it says 1375, though ...


Please see top five attachments - and my thread:
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ight=clod+shot

The two last attachments depict 15th c. stone shot consisting of quartzite and black flint; Puype/Stevens, p. 332f.


Marcus, all considered, there seems to be a high probability that your item, too, consists of quartzite.



Thanks, and best,
Michl

[Marcus den toom]

Hi Michl,

Email has been send

That clod shot is very interesting indeed and not too uncommon at certain places here.

I hope to recieve that ball next week, quarzite or limestone... it will be one more important item for my growing collection

[Matchlock]

Hi Marcus,
and Nando,

My email program is on strike once more; all the mails I receive are without any text. I hope it will be fixed by the end of next week.

Best,
Michl

[fernando]

I will resend you my last email by PM

[Marcus den toom]

I have recieved the ball and i weighted it, it came out on approximately 26 grams. I also measured the diameter and this is 2,9-3,0 cm.
So when calculating the volume we can use the 4/3 x Pi x R(Radius)^3 formula. This would be 14,137 cubic centimeters. The density of limestone is between 2,3-2,7 that of quartzite 2,6-2,8 and marble 2,4-2,7 gr/cm3.

The weight and diameter would sugest a material of 1,85 gr/cm3
This is a very pragmatic view and too hard on my brain at this time of day after a train journey of 6 hours or so...

Attached are pictures of this ball.

Best as always and sleep well my friends.