Pottery shard could be Medieval hand grenade

[Kyng]

https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/05/...nt-to-yes/


(Source: Above article)

Archaeologists have analyzed the residue inside four medieval ceramic shards and determined that one of them may have been used as a hand grenade, according to a recent paper published in the journal PLOS One. And the explosive used was likely made locally rather than gunpowder imported from China.

Byzantine soldiers used early versions of grenades in the 8th century CE, building on the "Greek fire" invented a century earlier. Instead of using Greek fire with flamethrowers, they placed the incendiary material in small stone or ceramic (and later, glass) jars to create handheld explosives. By the 10th century, the technology had spread to China, with Chinese soldiers packing gunpowder into ceramic or metal containers with a fuse attached.

India likely also had grenade-like weapons. A 12th-century manuscript (based on an earlier Sanskrit work) describes a terracotta elephant filled with explosives with a fuse that was unleashed on an invading army.

---

It's certainly possible... we think of grenades as a 'modern' invention, but as the article notes, some civilizations had grenade-like weapons over a millennium ago. So, it certainly can't be ruled out .

Although, it does make me wonder how different Medieval warfare might have been if these had existed in Western Europe at the time!

[Moonshroom]

We wouldn't have used armor for nearly as long if hand grenades were a common warfare item. We only ever stopped using armor in the first place because those got obliterated by cannons!

[Kyng]

We wouldn't have used armor for nearly as long if hand grenades were a common warfare item. We only ever stopped using armor in the first place because those got obliterated by cannons!

Yeah, makes sense - although, I'd find that regrettable, since it means those glorious knights in shining armour wouldn't have lasted as long !