Unusual find from the times of the First Republic of Poland

In Zaporizhia, a group of Ukrainian archaeologists made an extremely interesting discovery. On 23 November, they managed to unearth a fantastically preserved wooden cannon bed from the times of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the waters of the Dnieper River.

During underwater archaeological work carried out in the Hortyca National Reserve, near the village of Kanivs’ke, a fantastically preserved wooden cannon bed with metal fittings was found and excavated from the Dnieper River, the origin of which was tentatively determined to be between the 16th and 17th centuries.

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The artefact was found at a depth of 9 metres, where it rested deeply buried in the silt. It was the latter circumstance that contributed to the almost unbelievable state of preservation of the bed, which, when pulled out of the water, presented itself so well that its former red colour could easily be seen.

Speaking to local media, the researchers said that the bed they had found was part of a very large calibre siege cannon, which weighed around 2-3 tonnes. They also stressed that this is an extremely unique find, as many cannons from this period have been preserved until modern times, but the information provided shows that there is not a single structure of this type in Ukrainian collections that was used to embed them.

Once excavated and secured, the find was transported to one of the museums, where it will be cleaned and restored so that it can become part of a museum exhibition in the future.

How did this type of monument end up in the silt at the bottom of the Dnieper River? Well, most likely, it ended up there during an artillery crossing of the river. It is possible that there are other artifacts nearby, but nothing more has been found so far.

Zaporozhye, where the discovery was made, was historically part of the Kiev province, part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795).