GEORGE TOWN, MALAYSIA—The Star reports that two cannons were unearthed in an excavation of the moat and outer defensive structures at Fort Cornwallis that is part of a project to reconstruct the moat. The fort was built by the British East India Company in the late eighteenth century, and the cannons bear a symbol of King George III, who ruled Britain from 1760 to 1820. The weapons are thought to have been at the fort for at least 200 years. “One of the interpretations was that the fort was not involved in any war,” said Mokhtar Saidin of the University of Science Malaysia. “However, with the discovery of the cannons and cannonballs at the end of last year, we might have to take another look at the fort’s history.” Mokhtar notes that there is no mention of cannons at the star-shaped fort on a map of the site dating to 1877. For more on archaeology in the region, go to “Letter From Singapore: The Lion City's Glorious Past.”
