As usual, I always miss stuff I'd really like on TV as the kids or Mrs B have a monopoly on evening television (Simpsons, Coronation Street, Harry Hill re-runs, some bespectacled nonsense called Gok Wan etc.).
So I only came across this excellent programme half way through. It was based around the Battle of Bosworth (Wars of the Roses, Richard III, etc.) and was trying to determine which field the battle had been fought on.
One historian had based his evidence on the location of cannon balls found in one particular field - hundreds of the things - but given that no-one actually knew the range of 15th century artillery (i.e. how far the projectiles flew and then bounced) it was uncertain as to whether this was the field or whether the shot had overshot by some distance and that the actual field was further back.
So they set up two tests - one using a modern contraption (to test the powder charges required) and then a 15th century cannon for the real thing.
They also had to make their own shot - made from a rough cube of metal (iron usually) and then surrounded with lead (which I did not know!) to make the sphere required. It's not known whether the cube of lighter metal was to save weight (and so increase range) or to keep costs down. I suspect the former.
What it showed was that these balls bounced several times - the first bounce around 100m from the cannon and then a skipping effect with decreasing range for each subsequent bounce. They also found that - once used, the balls could not be re-used as they were significantly mis-shapen by impact.
They also set up a test to see how effective artillery was in the day (i.e. was it mainly for the noise to cause confusion and fear or was it actually effective at hurting someone). They created a gelantine 'body with simulated bone then put a jacket over it. The cannon was given a smaller charge (to simulate hitting at a distance of 100m) and they managed to hit the target first go.
The effect was quite devastating - the 'soft tissue' was ripped open and 'bone' fragments were scattered for some distance. The target was hit between neck and shoulder (where the jacket was placed) and it is clear that the effect would have been pretty much fatal - and the target's colleagues would have been covered with the blood, gore and bone of the target. Which pretty much answered the question. Early artillery was very effective (if not entirely accurate) and 15 or so balls flying into a packed body of men every miniute would have a considerable effect!
The tests accurately determined the ranges of cannon (including elevated firing positions and amount of powder in each charge) and so - overlaid with the locations of the balls found in the field - allowed the historians to specify - with some accuracy - where both sides cannons were placed and so where the battle was fought.
They also found what they think is the place where Richard III (the last English monarch to die in battle) met his end - a boggy fen in the corner of Bosworth field.
Great stuff - just wish I'd seen all of it!