Norway discovery may be the world's oldest stone anchor

Archaeologists in Norway believe they have discovered a stone that could be the oldest anchor in the world. The object was found at a depth of twenty meters near the islet of Hespriholmen in the Bømlo municipality.

Hespriholmen served as a significant Mesolithic quarry between 5,000 and 9,000 years ago, where people traveled by rowing to collect green stone for making axes. The stone, which weighs over thirty kilograms, features a groove running around it, leading researchers to conclude it was used to stabilize boats during stone collection rather than serving as a fishing net weight.

If confirmed, the find would predate the oldest reliably dated stone anchors, which originate from the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean. Arild Skjæveland Vivås of the Stavanger Maritime Museum and Leif Inge Åstveit of the University Museum of Bergen are leading the investigation into this “tremendously exciting” discovery.