Exploration of Buried Cannons Using Magnetic and GPR Methods in Canakkale, Turkey

The old Ottoman fort of Kumkale lies 5 km from the ruins of ancient Troy and 45 kilometres south of Çanakkale, Turkey. The fort dates from the 17th century and was built as part of the outer defences of the Straits. From the Kumkale area there are fine views to Gallipoli Peninsula and Dardanelles, and throughout the campaign Turkish batteries hereabouts bombarded Allied positions at Helles. The French fleet had stationed in front of Kumkale shore, Çanakkale, during World War I on 25th of April, 1915. Turkish Cannons in the batteries bombarded the fleet, however, they were not be able to complete their duty. French soldiers landed under protective bombardments of the navy targeting Kumkale and Orhaniye. After that all cannons were destroyed by allied soldiers. The ruins of the cannons were buried and disappeared at site. However, army has plans of the batteries and places of them were approximately known by historians. That’s why a geophysical survey campaign was planned to find the old cannons. In the frame of geophysical survey, magnetic and GPR methods were applied. Figure 2 shows profile map for both of these methods. Of course magnetic method was more successful in prospecting the heavy and huge iron cannons.