Dug up a cannon ball in our front garden. Any Info would be appreciated

by Basic-Complications

We dug up a cannon ball and what seems to be an extremely small gold ring in our front garden.

Here is a picture of the ball https://imgur.com/FHfwqI6

It is extremely heavy but is not magnetic.

Southern UK in the Kent area.

Here is the ring https://imgur.com/d8yDqFF

batubatu

As posted in r/whatisthisthing, that appears to be a mineral specimen of marcasite, not a cannonball.

Eternally65

You might try posting this in r/whatisthisthing. That sub has some astonishing experts.

lebennaia

Get in touch with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, they'll be able to help with dating, identification, and title (especially important for the ring, which as theomeny says, may be treasure in the legal sense which it is unlawful to keep without reporting it).

Having your objects recorded in the scheme means that the information is also available to archaeologists and historians, which is very important for future research.

The home of the Portable Antiquities Scheme is here: https://finds.org.uk/

daganfish

If that really is a cannon ball, it is possible that it still has gunpowder, and is therefore potentially very dangerous. I don't know what specific agency you should call, but a local museum or historical society should be able to tell you who can deal with unexploded ordinances.

I work in a museum in the US, and we occasionally have thing like this happen. In the meantime, leave it alone.