14th-century shipboard cannon that fired ‘stone shots’ may be Europe’s oldest on record

An uncommon cannon discovered underwater off the coast of Sweden in 2001 stands out as the oldest shipboard gun ever found in Europe, a brand new research finds.

Items of material discovered inside the article — considered the stays of a bag for gunpowder referred to as a cartouche — have been radiocarbon-dated to the 14th century, making the cannon one of many earliest of its variety and probably the oldest shipboard cannon in Europe on document.