What weighs seven tonnes, is 4m long, once spoke very loudly and was dug up in 2006?
The answer is a seven-inch coastal defence gun, which in 1885 was mounted in an emplacement, ready to defend the Otago Harbour and Dunedin.
At the time, there were fears of a Russian naval attack, but it never came.
Other heavy guns were also installed on the Dunedin coast, including at Fort Taiaroa, which included Taiaroa Head.
The seven-inch gun, which remained in service until 1911, was one of two heavy guns which were buried at Queens Gardens, Dunedin, in 1935.
They were dug up again in May 2006, as part of moves to restore Dunedin's history of coastal defences.
Another memorable defensive weapon, Fort Taiaroa's Armstrong Disappearing Gun, was installed in 1889.
It has since been restored, as part of an historical display at Taiaroa Head.
When the seven-inch gun was lifted by crane from its previous underground home at Queens Gardens in 2006, its cast-iron body was in good condition, little affected by rust.
A small team of volunteers from the New Zealand Antique Arms Association's Otago branch has since lavished about 400 hours of painstaking work in restoring the gun, and painting it, on behalf of the Otago Peninsula Trust's Fort Taiaroa committee.
"It's amazing.
"They've done a grand job," Laurie Stewart, a member of the Fort Taiaroa committee, said.
Hands-on restoration work on the two unearthed guns has been led by Stuart Maxwell, who chairs the association's Otago ordinance subcommittee.
Mr Stewart, who has helped co-ordinate the overall Fort Taiaroa-related restoration work, said it was hoped to fully restore the seven-inch gun and, at a later stage, to install it at Saddle Battery, near the visitor centre at the Royal Albatross Colony, as part of a further historical display involving the fort.
Dunedin engineering firm Farra Engineering Ltd had been asked to provide a quotation to create a metal gun carriage and an underlying gun platform, together weighing nearly seven tonnes, to accompany the gun, he said.
