Mortars were first used as early as 1453 by the Ottomans during the siege of Constantinople. Some were large devices that weighed 4,500 kg (5 tons) and were capable of firing projectiles in excess of 100 kg (220 pounds) through a tube roughly 1 metre (3 feet) in length.

When was mortar first used in construction?

According to Roman Ghirshman, the first evidence of humans using a form of mortar was at the Mehrgarh of Baluchistan in the Indus Valley, Pakistan, built of sun-dried bricks in 6500 BCE. Gypsum mortar, also called plaster of Paris, was used in the construction of many ancient structures.

Who invented the mortar?

The prototype of the modern mortar was a three-inch weapon developed by the Englishman Wilfred Stokes in 1915. This consisted of a smooth-bored tube, resting upon a baseplate and supported by a bipod, that had a fixed firing pin at its breech end.