"Stink Pot" from the St Anthony (RCM)

3D ModelNoAI

The lead ball here, hollow and with a potential ignition hole, in the collections of Royal Cornwall Museum (@RoyalCornwallMuseum) has been interpreted as a form of ‘stink pot’. This was a type of grenade. The ‘pots’ were filled with sulphur, gunpowder and small projectiles, to make a suffocating stink besides bombarding and burning enemy ships.

This ball contains silt, which may have traces of chemicals from the time of its use. As with archaeological excavations on land, analysis of finds is needed to discover their meanings as fully as possible. This can include studying maker’s marks, signs of wear, and residues of contents, as well detail of their context in a wreck.

3D scanned by Tom Goskar (@tomgoskar) as part of the Wreck and Rescue at Gunwalloe project commissioned by Cornwall Archaeological Unit (CAU) and funded by Historic England to mark the 50th anniversary of the Protection of Wrecks Act, 1973.