A large number of small, stone anchors were discovered at the Alexandrian coast during the underwater archaeological research carried out by the Hellenic Institute of Ancient and Medieval Alexandrian Studies. The upper hole in most of these anchors has a letterbox shaped perforation that shows the intense wear caused by rope friction. The wear is located at the two extremities of the hole and not at its centre as is usually the case with stone anchors. Judging from the location where they were found it is assumed that these anchors belonged to small fishing vessels. This assumption, coupled with their light weight, leads us to the conclusion that for practical reasons these anchors must have been cast in a row, successively, the one next to the other.
The stone anchors on the Ramleh coast, in Alexandria (Egypt). Some thoughts on their use
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