SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that Roman artifacts, including stone anchors fashioned with a single hole, coins, nails, sharpening tools, and a brooch, have been recovered from a possible port site in the River Wear in northeastern England. “It’s the first occasion in the UK where the anchors have been found in a river, normally they are found in a maritime environment off shore,” said underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead. Four of the anchors were made from local stone, while one was made from stone thought to have come from North Yorkshire. Bankhead said a seagoing vessel may have come up the northeast coast to the mouth of the River Wear and anchored at low tide, perhaps at a dam, bridge, or wharf, when it could no longer maneuver in the river. The cargo could have then been transferred to smaller vessels to continue the voyage further north to Roman forts at Chester-le-Street and Binchester, he explained. For more on the Roman presence in northern England, go to "The Wall at the End of the Empire."