Citizens from Phu Vang district in central Thua Thien-Hue province have retrieved five ancient cannons and several cannonballs at Thuan An sea estuary, said the provincial Museum of Revolutionary History.

The guns, measuring between 1.63-1.75m in length, were cast in copper and carved with Chinese characters and some Latin scripts.

According to Ho Tan Phan, a researcher of the former imperial city of Hue, the cannons may date back to the ruling period of Lord Nguyen Phuc Tan (1648-1687).