Anchor

Used to moor and manoeuvre boats, to which it was attached by a rope and hurled into the water. Above a cruciform base, four arms housing a stone are twisted together into a single shaft.

In Basque this type of anchor was known as arrankilla or pikatxoa. Examples have been found in underwater excavations off the Newfoundland and Labrador coasts. They are evidence that Basque fishermen were operating in these waters from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries.

The anchor here comes from Pasai San Pedro (Gipuzkoa) and was acquired from José Manuel Olave in 1989. It belongs to the collection of the Provincial Government of Gipuzkoa's Naval Museum.

Bibliography:

Benito Domínguez, Ana María. Aproximación a la historia de las anclas líticas a partir de las recuperadas en la costa gipuzkoana. Itsas Memoria. Revista de Estudios Marítimos del País Vasco, 3. 2000. 665-684.

Egaña Goya, Miren. XVI eta XVII mendeetako Canadako Ternua eta Labrador-eko euskal leku-izenen zenbait berri. Anuario de Eusko-Folklore, 1984. 32, 31-41.

Merino, José María. La pesca desde la prehistoria hasta nuestros días (La pesca en el País Vasco). Vitoria-Gasteiz : Eusko Jaurlaritzaren Argitalpen-Zerbitzu Nagusia, 1991. 152

Inventory number: GFA-037423-001