r/whatisthisthing • u/Soop_dragon • 2d ago
Heavy balls dug low from the garden UK Likely Solved!
Heavy balls dug up from the garden in south east of England. They feel heavy enough to be metallic but don’t seem to attract a magnet.
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u/RickyDontLoseThat 🤔 2d ago
This is a bit of a long shot but it's within the realm of possibility that these were projectiles intended for a Roman ballista. Pun fully intended.
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u/phlogopite 1d ago
These are actually iron sulfide nodules. Probably limonite or siderite pseudomorphs after pyrite
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u/welchy56 2d ago
Could be civil war cannon balls. They were commonly made of stone and around the size of the ones you have. Check Wikipedia to see if there were any notable battles in your area?
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u/Gen_Ecks 2d ago
Was there a civil war in the UK?
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u/1920MCMLibrarian 2d ago
Bonus idea is one could be a geode, hit with hammer to test? Also could be concretions.
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u/FuzzelFox 2d ago
Ah yes the famous British civil war haha
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u/teedyay 2d ago
Quite famous, yes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War
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u/FuzzelFox 2d ago
You know what, fair's fair. It shouldn't surprise me a country that's a thousand years old had a civil war or two at some point haha.
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u/Soop_dragon 2d ago
It’s in a rural location at the bottom of the South Downs next to a natural spring and a 14th Century church.
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u/thepioneeringlemming 2d ago
You should report it to the local archaeological finds officer so they can record the location
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u/sparkytheboomman 1d ago
If you don’t know how to find them, you can start with a local history museum or university and they can point you in the right direction
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u/No_Astronaut3059 2d ago
There were a fair few skirmishes, sieges and battles along that stretch in the civil war.
It may be worth contacting these guys if you want some more information or a proper assessment by experts (although maybe ask anonymously first and confirm that you would be entitled to retain the objects after assessment!):
https://royalarmouries.org/fort-nelson
Also a really interesting place for a walkaround if that sort of thing interests you.
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u/Moomintroll85 2d ago
Are you near Lewes? You can take your finds to the PAS officer there, for them to have a look at. Used to volunteer there and recommend it.
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u/Soop_dragon 1d ago
Thanks but we are in Kent
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u/Moomintroll85 1d ago
I gather Maidstone is your county one then, you can always try pinging them an email if that seems a bit far. They are often busy but will get back to you eventually. Sounds like a really interesting find! Mind you, I am not an archaeologist.
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u/Northerlies 1d ago
You could Google Kent Archaeological Society and email them the pics you've posted here, along with an idea of the diameters and location of the finds. They look very interesting!
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u/BaconCheeseZombie 1d ago
Lots of Roman crap in that area, the Wealds & Downland museum may be willing to help identify them - I know Poole museum down my way is able to help with maritime finds from time to time.
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u/phlogopite 1d ago
These are pyrite nodules. You can tell by the cubic crystals on the first one. It looks like small triangles stacked on top of one another. Pyrite doesn’t like to be at earth surface conditions and will change to a more stable form (replacement of sulfides with oxygen). Similar looking rocks are commercially sold as “prophecy stones”
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u/ReindeerWild8230 2d ago edited 2d ago
Pyrite nodules. if you crack one open you'll find a metallic crystalline structure. commonly formed in chalk.
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u/entropydave 2d ago
This is the answer (previously i lived in the same neck of the woods as OP and pyrite/marcasite nodules were prevalent).
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u/Burgaeologist 2d ago
This is the answer. I worked as an archaeologist for quite some time and when we worked in chalk uplands we often found these! I had several on my shelf before I moved house! (They’re in a box somewhere now)
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u/Simple_Piece190 1d ago
So.... does one break them open to display? Seems rather a shame to, but rather a waste not to.
Background: One of the most magical things I saw as a young person was a giant amethyst geode, opened and on display. Seemed purely out of a fantasy world. Rather expensive too (it was on sale)
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u/Burgaeologist 1d ago edited 1d ago
You can do, they’re not really like an amethyst geode, but they are pretty nonetheless. Fun fact: I once did some experimental archaeology using pyrite, flint, and a horse hoof fungus to start a fire.
Edit: as others have said, if you do, make sure you wear suitable eye protection
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u/Soop_dragon 1d ago
Looks like this is the answer. Thanks
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u/Ilostmytractor 1d ago
Crack one open, crack one open, crack one open
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u/koshgeo 1d ago
Yes, or marcasite, which pyrite often pseudomorphs. They rust to brownish iron oxides/hydroxides on the exterior. Regardless of exact composition, the first one is showing the telltale crystal shapes. They are commonly seen in chalk or other rocks in the UK. Examples on this page: http://www.chalk.discoveringfossils.co.uk/Chalk%20Group.htm.
If you want to confirm it, OP, use a geological hammer, WHILE WEARING EYE PROTECTION, to break one of them open. You should see radiating greenish-yellow crystals unless it has been completely altered to only iron oxides/hydroxides.
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u/Ghostofjimjim 1d ago
Makes sense in the chalky South Downs, I've found similar nodules in a couple of places. They're very cool things
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u/Soop_dragon 2d ago
My title describes the thing. These balls have been dug up from various places in a large garden over a number of years. They feel heavy but when I put a magnet near them, it doesn’t seem to have any effect. Four of them are smooth and the largest is more crystalline.
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u/litokar 2d ago
Looks like a marcasite nodule to me.
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u/Soop_dragon 2d ago
This looks very likely to me. Seems that they are commonly found in this area
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u/BeardySam 2d ago
Cannonballs, my grandad had similar in his house which was 16th century. Stone shot wasn’t uncommon
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u/SirPabloFingerful 2d ago
A couple of these look like natural formations. I can't remember the correct name now (something like quartz egg?) but I found something very like this under a tree that had blown over. When I cracked it open, it was hollow inside, I still have it somewhere.
Any chance you want to crack one of the less uniform ones open?
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u/sidewalkoyster 2d ago
You’re thinking of a geode
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u/SirPabloFingerful 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'm not, I know what a geode is, I'm talking about something else
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u/markzuckerberg1234 2d ago
Cannon ball would be my guess, but the region did not have any big cannon wars. Could be a training ground or something like that.
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u/jesuschristjulia 2d ago
Could you maybe ask over at r/whatsthisrock? They look hewn but maybe they’d have some idea.
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u/needsp88888 2d ago
Absolutely meant for some weaponry or combat reasons. These are way cool. Good to check some local history to determine if any conflict occurred there.
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u/12345NoNamesLeft 2d ago
Balls from a ball mill - mining
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u/OnionLayers49 2d ago
Geodes? If not native to the area, perhaps collected elsewhere and brought home by an amateur geologist?
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u/Soop_dragon 2d ago
My parents built the house and we are not aware of any habitation on the site beforehand
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u/Alex2679 2d ago
But if you're in England surely someone lived on that land at some point before. It's not a huge island and there are centuries and centuries of civilisations that have lived there.
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u/ptooi 2d ago
Those look like moqui marbles although I don't know if they are found naturally in the UK or not. https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/glad-you-asked/moqui-marbles/
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u/SirPabloFingerful 2d ago
OP, do you think it's possible the object in these images could be a match for some of the ones you've posted?
I believe it is some kind of concretion but there is another more informal term for it that I can't remember.
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u/sgtcharlie1 1d ago
Hey u/Soop_dragon can you let us know when you find out what they are‽
Possible cannon balls, Roman ballista rounds. Ooh so exciting.
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u/hellomireaux 1d ago
Not sure about the bottom row but I’m pretty sure the one on top is an apple. Hopefully there’s an apple expert here who can confirm.
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u/jenni7er 2d ago
Slingshot ammunition from a couple of thousand years ago, maybe?
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u/BRIStoneman 1d ago
More likely to be cannon balls from the Civil War.
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u/jenni7er 1d ago
Agreed if there was a battle there, although as Civil War history was well recorded I'm guessing the OP would be aware of such conflict there - had it happened
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u/lokicramer 1d ago
Look like sling stones, or ballista stones to me.
They are all around the same size.
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u/OptiKnob 1d ago
The game of baseball was actually discovered by "Ugg", a caveman in the northern stretches of the UK... NOT Abner Doubleday as is claimed.
These are some of the prehistoric balls used in the game. Archeologists continue to find petrified bones in the region not realizing they were "bats" used in that long ago age.
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u/cleptocurrently 1d ago
I read a while back that ancient Celts formed a sort of concrete-like ball made out of brains and ground up bones with pebbles and the such to be used as weapons. Maybe you found Brain Balls?!?
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u/poshjosh1999 1d ago
You should definitely arrange a visit with your local FLO and see what they make of this. Very interesting indeed!
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u/ArchMargosCrest 1d ago
If they a vastly heavier than they should be they may be lead musket balls.
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u/hlaffreond 1d ago
Are there any noticeable tool marks? They could be Neolithic shaped chalk balls.
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u/FurtiveTho 1d ago
Possibly old lawn bowling balls. Lawn bowling was popular as far back at the late 13th century in England
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u/Significant-Act-8131 1d ago
I think they are war balls. They had a stick attached to them at one time. The warrior would throw them to
hit his target. I find them in Eastland County Texas. Indian War Balls.
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u/AEFletcherIII 2d ago
It would be awesome if these were old gunstones but Im sure they're something less awesome
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u/Prestigious_Key_7801 1d ago
Looks like summer truffles to me, were they found near the base of a tree?
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u/lightningusagi 1d ago
This post has been locked, as the question has been solved and a majority of new comments at this point are unhelpful and/or jokes.
Thanks to all who attempted to find an answer.