A stone anchor from the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

A large three-holed stone anchor has been found on the Farasan Islands, Saudi Arabia, in the southern Red Sea. The anchor was found on land, 2.6 km from the coast, on a fossil-coral plateau alongside the Wadi Matar valley. This short article describes the anchor, contextualises the find in terms of the wider archaeology of the islands, considers its likely date, and looks for typological comparisons. The authors tentatively suggest that the anchor is representative of a local or regional nautical technology, and that it is of pre-Islamic date