The staves (crossbars), most often arc-shaped, were attached to the upper part of the anchor spindle (barrel). For this purpose, on one side of them there is a transversely cut groove in which the wooden trunk of the anchor lay and was attached. Made initially of stone and later of lead, due to their weight they lay on the bottom and contributed to one of the horns of the anchors getting stuck in the ground. In the autumn of 2012, the National History Museum received a stone stick from the water area of the city of Sozopol, which, in addition to being the largest in our collection with its dimensions (length - 2,10 m, width - 0,36 m) is and one of the largest antique stocks. Large specimens from the collection, mostly lead, reach a weight of over 300 kg. They belonged to ships capable of carrying over 1000 amphorae of wine.
Anchors and stakes made of wood, stone or lead continued to be used until the middle of the XNUMXth century, despite the discovery of iron anchors around the XNUMXth century BC.
In 2013, Prof. Dr. Ivan Hristov, deputy director of the National History Museum, published a catalog under the title "Ancient stone anchors, stone and lead rods from the collection of the National History Museum", which included and described a large part of the anchors and stocks stored in the museum.
In the last decade, the National History Museum has been conducting a series of underwater expeditions, mainly concentrated in the geographical area between the city of Burgas and the city of Sozopol. Among them, the studies in Chengene Skele Bay, Kraymoria quarter, Burgas city, should be noted; Vromos bay, town of Chernomorets; the waters of the island of "St. Kirik" and the island of "St. Thomas".
At the present moment, a team of the National History Museum, under the scientific leadership of Prof. Dr. Ivan Hristov, continues to conduct regular underwater archeology in the water area of Cape Christ to Sozopol.
