Archaeologists find record-size Ming Dynasty cannon at Great Wall of China

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Jerusalem Post
Archaeologists find record-size Ming Dynasty cannon at Great Wall of China
JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Tue, December 2, 2025 at 2:51 PM EST
2 min read



A Chinese flag flies with tourists hiking along the Great Wall, near Beijing, China, November 10, 2025; illustrative. (photo credit: Cheng Xin/Getty Images)


Chinese archaeologists uncovered the largest Ming Dynasty cannon ever found during excavations at the Great Wall’s Jiankou section, alongside rare artifacts and ancient structures.

Chinese archaeologists announced the discovery of the largest ever cannon found during an excavation of the Jiankou section of the Great Wall of China, state media confirmed on Monday.

The cannon, cast during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), measured 89.2 centimeters in length and weighed 112.1 kilograms, Xinhua, the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China, clarified.

Shang Heng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Institute of Archaeology, spoke at a press conference announcing the excavation's findings.

Shang said that "well-preserved inscriptions on the cannon provide crucial new evidence for research on firearms manufacturing and historical military technology exchange," during the Ming Dynasty period, Xinhua reported.


Archaeologists find turquoise artifacts dating back to ancient Xia, Shang Dynasties

Other items found during the excavation included burial grounds, moats, residential remains, and 28 turquoise artifacts dating back to the Xia Dynasty (2070 BCE - 1600 BCE) and Shang Dynasty (1600 BCE - 1046 BCE), Xinhua added.



A visitor walks past cannons on display at the Jiayu Pass, the first frontier fortress at the west end of the Ming dynasty Great Wall, in Jiayuguan, China's northwestern Gansu province on October 28, 2024; illustrative. (credit: ADEK BERRY/AFP via Getty Images)


The archaeologists also found storage rooms used by frontier garrison troops during the Ming Dynasty, as well as three previously unknown watch towers and connecting walls, Global Times, a daily Chinese tabloid under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party's flagship newspaper, the People's Daily, reported.

The archaeology project was funded by "social forces rather than government or construction projects," the tabloid noted.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/archaeologists-record-size-ming-dynasty-195125066.html