Hi Tuck... Well, the brass casnnon theory was not mine, but the old gentleman who made the claim, is an historian from Ohio with holdings in Ontario, and his story was that someone told him that there were some cannons of brass which were smaller and cast thinner. I guess if the boom and smoke didn't scare off the natives, maybe the glitter of the brass in the sun would do it! A cannon ball tu rned up last week, and bears a thick coating of rust. We identified the wreck from which it was retrieved years ago. I like you am convinced, based on simple logic and historical evidence, that some of Orkney's best kept treasures in terms of historical artifacts, still lay beneath the soils. Cheers....Stephen On Jul 24, 2009, at 11:35 AM, Tuck wrote: > Steven, > > Very interesting about Viking artifacts. You are almost certainly > right that loot was buried and never retrieved. The question is how > much, where, and what kind of loot. It does make the purchase of a > metal detector a good investment, I would think. That would be a good > step towards answering an even more important question, how to find > it. > > But just a thought about canons. Your inference that a canon ball > implies canon is pretty unassailable. However, your suggestion that > the canon might be brass (or bronze - close cousins) rather than iron > for transporting purposes is flawed. > > First of all, brass weighs 534 pounds per cubit foot, while iron > (surprisingly) weighs only 450 pounds per cubit foot, thus is actually > lighter. Further, iron, being stronger, can be cast thinner for equal > strength, making iron canons most likely a good deal lighter than > brass or bronze ones. Unfortunately, iron corrodes rather badly , > especially in sea water, and though it does throw up a hard coating, > there is likely to be less of an iron canon lying on the bottom than a > brass one. > > Anyway, good luck with the metal detector. After digging up dozens of > bottle caps, and then getting all excited when it goes berserk, only > to find some aluminium foil, you will certainly begin to discern > significant readings from trivial ones, and who knows, you might just > find the big one. > > Keep us posted. > > Tuck > On Jul 24, 2009, at 10:53 AM, stephen davie wrote: > >> I was reading today on the www, that a father and son team , in July >> of 2007, unearthed a viking horde in England which was claimed to be >> worth a million pounds by some erudite evaluator. My propensity for >> speculation and romance kicks in again, as I recall the fascinating >> books of viking lore of the Orkneys, and I can't help but think that >> some day, some eager body in Orkney is going to unearth, perhaps by >> accident, an accumulation of sivler coins and jewelry, carefully >> concealed in the arms and safe keep of mother earth, by the viking >> who left by the sea on yet another summer raid perhaps, which fellow >> due to some dramatic and fatal event, never was to return to Orkney >> to unearth and retreave his stash of previously plundered and horded >> possessions. >> >> Surely I am not the sole keeper of this plausible dream. Indeed, on >> behalf of all the vikings who lived on Orkney...."Where is the >> "stuff" our forbears lusted after for all those centuries, when we >> raided the shores of Scotland, England and Ireland? >> >> Two years ago I acquired an underwater metal detector which is >> discriminatory by type of metal. It has not been out of the case, but >> this summer we are going to take it to our near north, to examine an >> old wreck which a very senior citizen visited in the 1930's, and from >> which he just received a cannon ball. The conjecture is that the boat >> would not have carried cannon balls, without a cannon. We assume the >> cannon will be brass, as the portage factor made slugging iron >> cannons across portages practically impossible. >> >> I maintain that Vikings would not embark on viking expeditions, >> without returning with the components of typical hordes. Based on the >> population, and the numerous excursions outlined in the sagas alone, >> there is logic to the view, which will be solidified the day someone >> trips over such a discovery. Obviously it is likely that many buried >> treasures there are in the "abeyence" file as to the required >> reporting to the government. >> >> Which begs the question....how many in Orkney have metal detectors? I >> suppose in light of the covetous albeit appropriate claims by >> historical authorities in Scotland to any artifiacts exhumed, that >> people are disinclined to bother, to some extent. When Mel Fisher >> discovered the Atocha, the sabres rattled over rights and ownership >> issues, for many years in many courts. When my friend Tracy Bowden >> exhumed th esilver banks wreck, concepcion (1642) he entertained >> armed security from the Dominican Republic on his boat for a decade, >> ensuring that their 50% made it to the museum in Porta Plata. >> >> In particular, it seems that Vikings were bead lovers, and one would >> think that in burial areas and amaongst old ruins, the beads which >> are durable, would surface on a somewhat regular basis. You might >> google viking beads, or Dr. Dan Carlsson, who is the acknowledged >> expert on the subject. I wrote to him once, and he is a very >> interesting and obviouosly expert historian. IN researching for the >> book project, I discovered that authors in Scotland interested in >> Orkney, would travel to Norway to fill in the blanks where Scottish >> notes were thin in some centuries. >> >> The absence of viking possessions in Orkney is redolent of an ongoing >> mystery, considering that their culture flourished for centuries in >> Orkney, and the object of their lusty voyages, was in large part, >> material valuables which would have returned to Orkney and been >> deposited in their private earthy banks. >> >> Looking forward to my trip over to Orkney and Norway in September. >> >> Cheers all....stephen >> _______________________________________ >> Orcadia Group Photo Album >> http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA- >> request@rootsweb.com >> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and >> the body of the message > > _______________________________________ > Orcadia Group Photo Album > http://tinyurl.com/28bx9x > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ORCADIA- > request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message >