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Anchors aweigh! Yet another maritime innovation that can be credited to the Sea Peoples is the composite anchor, two of which, found on the sea-floor in the harbor of Ashkelon, are shown above (left and center). While earlier anchors were simply heavy stone weights through which a rope was passed (anchor at right), composite anchors had additional holes into which wooden flukes were inserted. The flukes were especially well-suited to catch the ground in sandy or muddy sea bottoms.

Composite anchors were introduced into the Aegean and into northern Canaan between 1400 and 1200 B.C.E.—the very time and place in which the Sea Peoples were active.