Archaeologists found this ancient anchor that they believe was in use for at least 2,000 years at the bottom of the sea in Northern Israel.

The discovery of the ancient artefact was announced by Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority yesterday (10th June).

The 3,300-year-old anchor was found by a team of scuba diving archaeologists at the Tel Dor archaeological site in Northern Israel.

Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority said in a statement that the anchor was first used in the Bronze age around 3,300 years ago and remained in use all the way until the Byzantine period until approximately 500 AD.

Therefore the huge anchor weighing 100 kilogrammes (220 lbs) is believed to have been in use for around 2,000 years been causing a move from different vessels before it was eventually lost at the bottom of the Mediterranean sea.

The authority said that the anchor is similar to those found in the ancient Syrian port of Ugarit and the Uluburun shipwreck off the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.

Other objects were found during the excavation including several different stone tools, ceramics and ballast stones which were used to stabilise ships.

The area under excavation is a large natural bay with a 200 metre (656 feet) diameter where the water reaches around 4 metres in-depth and is renowned for its archaeological importance.

Dror Ben-Yosef, one of the archaeologist, said in the park authority’s statement: “Making Tel Dor’s heritage accessible to the public could connect them to thousands of years of maritime and continental history.”

The excavation was carried out as part of a collaboration between the Recnati Institute for Marine Studies at the University of Haifa and the Centre for Marine Archaeology at the University of San Diego in California.

The 220-lbs anchor was lifted from the sea bed and is now undergoing analysis with the aim of pinpoint its origins.