Ancient and medieval iron anchors from the Bulgarian Black Sea
Антични и средновековни железни котви от Българското Черноморие
Language: Bulgarian—English (bilingual)

   Chronologically, the author presents samples from the 2nd to the 13th century. Structurally, the book has two main chapters. The first chapter presents the development of iron anchors until the Late Middle Ages based on known finds and their typology mainly in the Mediterranean water area. The second chapter is a catalogue of all searched anchors from the Bulgarian Black Sea coast until the summer of 20. The book includes a description of the ship's artifacts, their location and supposed connection with port areas used in certain historical eras. Information is presented on 90 iron anchors from the entire Bulgarian water area of ​​the Black Sea, found at a depth of up to 100 m. The exception is three medieval anchors found near the village of Varvara at a depth of 90 m. Forty-four anchors have remained outside the funds of Bulgarian museums and collections. Seven of the anchors were found in the open sea (probably under the fairway of ancient and medieval ships), the rest of them are connected to the waters of harbour areas near cities and convenient bays. Despite the impossibility of compiling a complete catalogue of the iron anchors discovered in the last 100 years along our Black Sea coast, with a certain degree of convention, the author assumes that the summarized data in this book is a kind of representative sample of the type and location of the objects. The conclusion offers a summary of the data, information on chemical analyses performed on some samples and a detailed archaeological map of the findings. The book uses materials stored in the collections of the museums in Kavarna, Varna, Nessebar, Ahtopol, Sozopol, Kiten, Primorsko, Tsarevo, Ahtopol and National Museum of History. Archival information from the first organized underwater expeditions in Bulgaria from the second half of the 20th century and accidental underwater discoveries have been added.

Table of contents

Introduction

Chapter I. Iron Anchors in Antiquity and the Middle Ages (1st—13th centuries)

Chapter II. Antique and Medieval Anchors from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast

Conclusion

Literature

Write a review