Need help in identifying...cannonball?

[cherokee]

My son found this in our yard. It was totally submerged except for about a half dollar size area exposed to the surface. So it must of had a hard force to plant it in the ground.

It is approx. 3lbs and 9oz.
and is approx. 3" in diameter. One way you measure it is a little less, measuring 2.98" and another way you measure it is 3.02.
It has a very faint seam/band around it from the mold. There is only one major indentation that looks like it was hit with maybe a chisel? or something? See photo...
It is solid and has not plug or fuse.

There were no major battles in my area that I know if. I even called an archaeologist acquaintance and he said he did not know of any battles here also.
So how it ended up here is a mystery.
After looking at cannonball pictures it looks exactly like them.

Can anyone tell me if this appears to be a cannonball? Maybe can tell me whether it was from the Revolutionary or Civil War era?

Thanks so much for your help....

 

[High Plains Digger]

What, no photo???? My compliments to P.C. George who educated me on this kind of matter. Not that I am an expert, but he said if it had a seam and a small flat spot (read that "removed sprue") then it was NOT a cannonball. Shot put maybe, mill ball most likely, but, as I learned, a cannon ball must be perfect in roundness and smoothness to get the most bang for the buck out of the powder. Otherwise, a lot of force just blows around it and maybe it falls to the ground, or at worst, hits the ground troops a few yards in front of the cannon. By the way, there are tools out there that look like large bubble blowers that were used to check the ball. I suppose that a off round ball could roll part way down on the barrel and jam it up. Not good in the heat of battle.

So how did I do, Mr. George? I hope everything is basically right. You can add the "advanced" information.