It’s the oldest gun in the West.
Scientists have exhumed a nearly 500-year-old bronze conquistador
cannon in Arizona that’s the oldest gun ever discovered in the United
States, per a combustive new study published in the [1]International
Journal of Historical Archaeology.
“Consultation with experts throughout the continent and in Europe
reveal that it is also the oldest firearm ever found inside the
continental USA,” said Deni Seymour, an Arizona archaeologist who
discovered the blaster from the past, [2]according to ZME Science.
[3]Scientists have exhumed a nearly 500-year-old bronze conquistador
cannon in Arizona that's the oldest gun ever discovered in the United
States. Pictured is a lithograph of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado's
doomed exploration.
Scientists have exhumed a nearly 500-year-old bronze conquistador
cannon in Arizona that’s the oldest gun ever discovered in the United
States. Pictured is a lithograph of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s
exploration. Universal Images Group via Getty Images
[4]The cannon.
While designed primarily as a wall gun used to protect fortifications,
the two-person cannon (pictured) was also portable and could breach
wooden or light adobe walls of domiciles in the towns the conquerors
encountered. phys.org
Measuring 42 inches in length and weighing about 40 pounds, the ancient
artillery piece was discovered at a repository in the Santa Cruz Valley
of Arizona, [5]Phys.org reported.
It was located on the floor of a Spanish stone-and-adobe building that
was part of San Geronimo III, the first European settlement in the
Southwest, which was founded during the Spanish conquest in 1541.
By employing radiocarbon dating and other cutting-edge techniques,
researchers were able to date the historical smoking gun back to
Francisco Vázquez de Coronado’s doomed campaign between 1539 and 1542.
[6]Deni Seymour with the cannon.
“Consultation with experts throughout the continent and in Europe
reveal that it is also the oldest firearm ever found inside the
continental USA,” said Deni Seymour (pictured), an Arizona
archaeologist who discovered this blaster from the past Deni Seymour
This notorious Spanish conquistador notably led 400 soldiers, their
families and approximately 1,500 Indigenous allies northward from
Mexico in search of the legendary “Seven Cities of Gold.”
Like predecessor Ponce De Leon’s ill-fated search for the so-called
“fountain of youth,” the Southwest incursion ended in disaster after
Coronado found only sparse settlements instead of the gilded
metropolises he had envisioned.
During that time, the conquistador established San Geronimo III, an
outpost that was notably defended with bronze cannons like the newly
found weapon.
[7]Francisco Vázquez de Coronado.
The cannon helped shed light on the conquistador Francisco Vázquez de
Coronado’s ill-fated campaign in the U.S. Southwest.
The firearm — which was the first gun ever recovered from the Coronado
expedition — was a marvel of engineering that was designed to be
mounted on a wooden tripod.
While meant primarily as a wall gun used to protect fortifications, the
two-person cannon was also portable and could breach wooden or light
adobe walls of domiciles in the towns the conquerors encountered.
[8]The cannon.
The cannon (pictured) was the oldest firearm found in the continental
US. phys.org
The lightweight gun was also deceptively powerful, able to propel a
massive lead ball some 700 yards through the flimsy structures.
It discharged its shot with a percussive blast that likely instilled
terror in an enemy unaccustomed to firearms.
Researchers deduced from the shooter’s somewhat spartan appearance that
it may have been cast in Mexico or the Caribbean as opposed to Spain,
where more ornate firearm designs were the norm.
Interestingly, the loose cannon was found unloaded without any signs
that it had even been fired, suggesting that it was abandoned.
It’s yet unclear what prompted this silence of the blams.
However, historical accounts indicate that the indigenous Sobaipuri
O’odham people attacked San Geronimo III, prompting a Spanish retreat.
That theory is supported by the discovery of lead shot, Spanish armor
and weapons and Sobaipuri arrowheads at the site.
“This final blow seems to be the precipitating event that led to the
abandonment of the wall gun, where it remained snugly encased in an
eroded Spanish adobe-and-rock-walled structure [ruin] for 480 years,”
wrote Seymour and her colleagues.
On a larger level, the decisive victory delayed Spanish colonization of
the area by more than 100 years, making the virgin cannon a symbol of
Spain’s impotent campaign in the region.
References
1.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10761-024-00761-7
2.
https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/oldest-firearm-in-the-usa/
3. file:///tmp/lynxXXXXpnuHPo/L1860987-108TMP.html
4. file:///tmp/lynxXXXXpnuHPo/L1860987-108TMP.html
5.
https://phys.org/news/2024-11-oldest-firearm-unearthed-arizona-bronze.html#google_vignette
6. file:///tmp/lynxXXXXpnuHPo/L1860987-108TMP.html
7. file:///tmp/lynxXXXXpnuHPo/L1860987-108TMP.html
8. file:///tmp/lynxXXXXpnuHPo/L1860987-108TMP.html
