Historical period stone anchors from Vijaydurg on the west coast of India

Abstract

Stone anchors are the primary antiquites in marine archaeological studies. Evidences of their evolution are noticed in India since 2500 B.C. A number of stone anchors have been recovered during the recent marine archaeological explorations at Dwarka, Prabhasa-Somnath, Vijaydurg and Sindhudurg along the west coast of India. Vijaydurg was a minor port of Maharashtra during 1st BC - 2nd AD. Explorations have been carried out in Vijaydurg waters to locate shipwrecks. The underwater exploration of Vijaydurg revealed a stone structure which trends E-W and turns to N-S direction. The airlift revealed coal and shale at 2.5m below the sediment water interface. The other findings are two iron sling shots, pottery, and wooden logs of wrecked ships. During the onshore exploration a number of grapnel and triangular stone anchor were found in adjoining areas of the dockyard which could have been used as lintels on the second fortification of Vijaydurg Fort. Such a reuse of ancient stone anchors were noticed for the first time on the Maharashtra coast. This paper highlights the details of the stone anchors, their probable date and associated findings such as the dockyard and underwater structure in the region and provides a comparision to anchors found elsewhere in India.