Bronze age anchors of original design from Crimea
Keywords:
archaeology, ancient anchors, Bronze Age, Northern Black Sea region, cult of anchors, typo-logyAbstract
This article deals with the publication and analysis of new data on Bronze Age anchors found on the shores of the Kerch Strait. Such materials are extremely rare due to the peculiarities of their discovery. They are not often found in settlements and those discovered on the seabed are difficult to dating even with special surveys. The particular significance of these finds consists in their clear dating due to the accompanying material. Discovering of anchors at the entrance to a house, near a fireplace, along with similar later examples (an archaic house in Panticapaeum, near a fireplace) suggests the emergence and development of a unique cult. The study of seamanship and fishing among Bronze Age population of the Northern Black Sea region has traditionally been overshadowed by advances in livestock breeding and agriculture. Meanwhile, new data suggest that the technology in this area was quite advanced and that further research is prospecting. A typology of ancient anchors of similar design is presented, allowing for further research.
References
Bratchenko, S. N. 2012. Leventsovskaia krepost. Pamiatnik kultury bronzovogo veka (Leventsovka fortress. A Bronze Age cultural site). Kiev: “Skif” Publ. (in Russian).
Evsyukov, S. V. 2023. Istoriia antichnogo iakoria. 15 avgusta, 2023 (History of the Ancient Anchor. 15 August, 2023). Available at URL: https://museumanapa.ru/anchor–1/ (accessed: 25.07.2024). (in Russian).
Kisly, A. E. 1997. Otchet o raskopkakh Kerchenskoi ekspeditsii v 1994 g. (Report on the excavations of the Kerch expedition in 1994). Simferopol (in Russian).
Kisly, A. E. 2002. Otchet Kerchenskoi ekspeditsii o raskopkakh v 2001 g. (Report of the Kerch expedition on 2001 excavations). Simferopol. Scientific Archive of the Institute of Crimean Archaeology, no 368 (in Russian).
Kisly, A. E. 2022. Kamenskaia kultura Vostochnogo Kryma: drevnost i sovremennost (Kamenka culture of Eastern Crimea: ancient and modern times). Rostov–on–Don: “Mediagraf” Publ. (in Russian).
Kisly, A. E. 2024. In Mastykova, A. V. (ed.). Polevoi dnevnik. Vostochnaia Evropa v antichnoe vremia i Srednie veka: sbornik statei pamiati O.V. Sharova (Field notebook. Eastern Europe in antiquity and the Middle Ages: collected articles in memory of O.V. Sharov). Series: Materialy spasatel'nykh arkheologicheskikh issledovaniy (Proceedings of Rescue Archaeological Studies) 34. Moscow: Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 36–45 (in Russian).
Kisly, A. E. 2025. In Stratum plus (2), 251–159 (in Russian).
Lazarov, M. 1978. Poteriannaia flotiliia (Lost fleet). Leningrad: “Sudostroenie” Publ. (in Russian).
Marchenko, I. D. 1974. Gorod Pantikapei (The city of Panticapaeum). Series: Arkheologicheskie pamiatniki Kryma (Archaeological monuments of Crimea). Simferopol: “Tavria” Publ. (in Russian).
Okorokov, A. V., Kulagin, A. V. 2023. In Kulturologicheskii zhurnal (Cultural Studies Journal) 1 (16) 2023. P. 1–8. Available at: //http://cr–journal.ru/rus/journals/369.html&j_id=26. (accessed: 02.09.2025) (in Russian).
Rybakova, V. D. 1974. In Miklyaev, A. M. (ed.). Arkheologicheskii sbornik Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha (Archaeological Bulletin of the State Hermitage Museum) 16. Leningrad: “Avrora” Publ., 19–49 (in Russian).
Skryagin, L. N. 1979. Iakoria (Anchors). Moscow: “Transport” Publ. (in Russian).
Trekhtysiacheletnii egipetskii iakor obraruzhen u poberezhia (A three–thousand–year–old Egyptian anchor was discovered off the coast). Available at: https://www.trskinfo.ru/2020/10/27/3000–letnij–egipetskij–yakor–obnaruzhen–u–poberezhya/. (accessed: 23.10.2025) (in Russian).
Fedorovich. Vladivostok. Iakoria – dostoinstva i nedostatki (Fedorovich. Vladivostok. Anchors – advantages and disadvantages). Available at: https://forum.motolodka.ru/read.php?f=2&i=58604&t=58257. (accessed: 23.10.2025) (in Russian).
Shapovalov, G. 1997. Korabli very: sudokhodstvo v dukhovnoi zhizni drevnei Ukrainy (Ships of faith: shipping in the spiritual life of ancient Ukraine). Zaporizhia: “Dikoe Pole” Publ. (in Russian).
Iakor dlia lodki IaT 1 «gribok» (Anchor for the YAT 1 “Gribok” boat). Available at: https://tehnoparus.com.ua/product/yakor–dlya–lodki–pvh–yat1. (accessed: 15.10.2024) (in Russian).
Iakor–zatsepliaika (Anchor–grapple). Available at: https://www.XNiRwhlDKOk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX2uE4AKVe4 (accessed: 23.10.2025). (in Russian).
Iakor (Fortress anchor). Available at: https://yacht–parts.ru/catalog/exterior/yakornoe/yakor_fortress_alyuminievyy/ (accessed: 02.04.2026) (in Russian).
Hudson, Mark, Fernández, Irene M. Muñoz. 2023. In Old World: Journal of Ancient Africa and Eurasia 3 (1), 1–44. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/org/science/article/pii/S2667075523000040. (accessed: 16.10.2024).
Rosenberg, D., Agnon, M., Kaufman, D. 2016. In Journal of Lithic Studies. 3 (3), 457–477. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/-308777208 (accessed: 18.10.2024).
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
