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#1 |
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Join Date: Jul 2022
Posts: 15
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The latest issue of American Rifleman (March 2023) had an article, perhaps of interest here, regarding an archeological find from the American Southwest. (My apologies for the quality of the scans, from my phone - the individual pages are attached due to file size restriction.)
I am particularly intrigued by the suggestion that the piece may be of New World manufacture. |
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#2 |
Lead Moderator European Armoury
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Portugal
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Let us see if we can convert those PDF's into JPG format.
. Last edited by fernando; 26th February 2023 at 07:51 PM. Reason: Resizing the last picture |
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#3 |
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Excellent, thank you for converting the pages!
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#4 |
Arms Historian
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Location: Route 66
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Fernando, thank you so much for extracting these pages from the link and posting them for ease in reading this fascinating article. The author notes that the conservation and analysis of this gun hopes to determine if it was forged in Mexico or in Spain.
While these rampart guns could of course be forged in a relatively conservative blacksmith setting, it remains in my opinion too complex of a job to have been done in these early times in Mexico. There was a notable absence of highly skilled armorers in these early expeditions, and those who had some skill in blacksmithing were limited as well as other tradesmen typically found on vessels. This type of rampart gun was also of the type that became 'deck guns' aboard ships, and most likely this was taken from the vessel the expedition arrived on. These guns often remained in use for not only generations, but even into centuries as did most artillery pieces. It was not uncommon to find various cannon etc. used in emplacements in settlements, but unusual to find such a heavy gun carried in a mobile expedition. |
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#5 |
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There was one comment mentioning forging and blacksmiths. The article’s brief description mentions cast bronze. I’d guess since this discovery, if 100% accurate as described, would rewrite a fair amount of history, and there would be articles in archeological journals, which I’d like to read to get the big picture here. I’d be interested in seeing a lab analysis of the bronze, as this would tell us a lot.
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#6 |
Lead Moderator European Armoury
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Jim, my surprise doesn't go for the carrying along this gun. A healthy man (not an old dude like us both) can easily carry 40 pounds on his shoulder; not to mention they had the mules to do it. Besides, it is plausible that Coronado, leaving men behind to fortify some spots, had them equiped with such useful wall guns, not yet so anachronic due to its earlier generation, as you well suggest.
What intrigues is this mixing between haquebuts (wall guns) typology and versos (from the Portuguese berços) which is completely another thing; berços are breach loaders, for a start. I ignore whether the article author was advised by metallurgists, as to infer that the lack of lead made the gun to have been cast in the New World. I heard that lead is only a small (if ever) fraction of bronze composition. Doesn't it look more likely that these guns were shipped from Spain with the Coronado arsenal ? Appologies for my ignaro approach ![]() . Last edited by fernando; 27th February 2023 at 01:49 PM. Reason: correction/ s |
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