It rests in a glass topped case in the hallway. I didn't measure it, but it is about 20" long, quite rusty and fragile. This item is ammunition shot from a cannon (a "bar shot"), two half-cannonballs connected by an iron bar welded between them. Sometimes the two projectiles were connected with chain (a "chain shot").
When shot from a cannon they whirled through the air, and were quite effective in naval battles for tearing through sails & rigging, and splintering masts and spars.
This item was recovered from the bottom of Pamlico Sound by Fowler O'Neal in the 1950s while he was fishing for flounder. Bar shots were used during the age of sailing ships and black powder. This artifact may date to the Civil War, or even to Blackbeard's time. Take a look at it on your next visit to the Ocracoke Preservation Society Museum.
Our Ocracoke Newsletter for this month is an article by Philip Howard, My Ocracoke, Living amidst 250 years of Howard family history. You can read it here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news082116.htm.
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