Nine cannonballs found nearby site of Fort Cornwallis cannons

What a find: An aerial view of the excavation works at Fort Cornwallis at the Esplanade, Penang, where two cannons believed to be 200 years old were found. The cannons are covered under a blue canopy. (inset) Graduate students (from left) Saw, Noridayu, Nurulnatasha and Suhana showing the nine cannonballs that their team found near the two cannons.

GEORGE TOWN: Archaeologists have dug up nine cannonballs in the same trench at Fort Cornwallis where two centuries-old two cannons were found last month.

The cannonballs were found between Feb 26 and 28 during on-site excavation works by graduate students Noridayu Bakry, Nurulnatasha Azman, Suhana Yusof and Saw Chaw Yeh from the Centre for Global Archaeological Research at Universiti Sains Malay­sia.

On Feb 19, cannons measuring 2.2m and 2.35m that bore the markings of “GR” (George Rex), the symbol of King George III, were discovered buried 1.2m in the ground on the western side of the 232-year-old fort.

Saw said one of the nine cannonballs measured about 10cm in diameter while the others, which resemble canister shots, measured between 3cm and 6cm in diameter.

“The cannonballs are not for the cannons as the sizes are comparatively smaller,” she said.

However, Saw did not dismiss the possibility the cannonballs could be from the same period.

Graduate students (from left) Saw, Noridayu, Nurulnatasha and Suhana showing the nine cannonballs that their team found near the two cannons.

“We can’t give the exact date for the cannonballs until proper analysis and documentation is done.

“The two cannons discovered are expected to be at least two centuries old as they have the emblem of King George III, who reigned from 1760 to 1820,” she said at the Esplanade yesterday.

The excavation project is a state government initiative to reinstate the historical moat and other defensive outwork surrounding the fort, which is endorsed by Jabatan Warisan Negara.

It is being conducted by George Town Conservation and Develop­ment Corporation (GTCDC) as a collaboration between the state government, Think City and Aga Khan Trust for Culture.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the excavation work which was scheduled to be completed in July is expected to take longer due to the archaeological works.

According to George Town World Heritage Incorporated, the USM archaeological team is planning to move the cannons which weigh around 1.5 tonnes each from the fort to Global Archaeological Research soon for conservation.