The main focus of displays at the Musée Archéologique de St. Raphaël are Gallo-Roman materials recovered from shipwrecks through underwater archaeology. In addition to a comprehensive exhibit of amphorae, including a group from the 1st century BC Dramont A shipwreck, various types of ships' hardware are shown. This includes four rare bronze pumps recovered from the Dramont D (1st century AD) wreck. These pumps were used to empty the large storage vessels known as dolia, which had previously been filled with contents of amphorae landed from a ship.
Also exhibited are iron anchor bases of various sizes from Roman-era shipwrecks . These heavy metal forms, looking in many ways like large pickaxe blades, had long wooden shafts where ropes to the ship were attached, resembling some types of present-day sea anchors.
[Fig.1: Anchor bases recovered from Roman shipwrecks (Musée Archéologique de St. Raphaël; photo: Athena Review).]
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