Piles of old cannon balls dating back to the 19 th century have been unearthed in and around old French military posts in the previously war-torn province of central Quang Tri, says a leading archaeologist.

Le Duc Tho, the Deputy Director of the provincial Museum, said on July 16 that the discoveries were of two sorts. One that exploded soon after it was fired and the other that exploded twice when it was fired and hit its target.

The cannon balls look like marbles in a kids’ game and were made out of cast-iron during the 19 th century.

Tho added that his museum has bought 100 of these kinds of cannon balls to put on display from citizens of Quang Tri town, where former French military posts were concentrated during their 80-year long occupation of Vietnam .

The museum is also looking for financial assistance to collect stone cannon balls which can be found scattered around parts of the province for scientific research./.