Historic artifacts seized in house of local who died trying to open 103-year cannonball in Turkey’s Çanakkale

ÇANAKKALE

Gendarmerie forces investigating the house of a local man who died while trying to obtain powder from a historic cannonball on July 6 have found a number of artifacts at his residence in the northwestern province of Çanakkale.

Kazım Perçin, who at the age of 73 was still working as a fisherman, reportedly found a Gallipoli War-era cannonball off a street in the central Erenköy neighborhood. It later exploded while he was trying to open it with a saw.

Following the blast, the local gendarmerie completed an investigation and seized numerous objects considered artifacts in Perçin’s house.

Binoculars, various types of binocular cases, cartridge bullets, a yatagan sword, a double-barreled rifle, a compass, a compass case, 54 historic coins, 17 metal objects, one cross, silver, bronze and copper coins and 112 pieces of post-Ottoman and Roman era artifacts were seized. 

The seized artifacts were delivered to the Çanakkale Military Museum Command and Archeology Museum in the town.