I think we -as a nation - are regarded statistically second only to the
Germans in per capita beer consumption.  Of course that is not to say that
Aussie archaeologists consume more or less than their American counterparts.
With those great boutique breweries you guys have you should beat us.  Some
good drops to be had particularly up around Washington and Oregon.

Archaeolgically there is certainly the tendency for metal cans to pile up in
arid areas like Alice springs without disintegrating.  Over here in NE
Australia metal cans have a short after life but I have found mounds of beer
champagne bottles along the old pack horse routes to the ranges. They were
usually larger as one neared the bottom of the steep climbs.  One assumes
they off loaded weight before the scarp was tackled.

Most of those dumps have disappeared now as they have been ransacked and
smashed.

Gordon

> From: "David L. Browman" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 12:58:36 -0500 (CDT)
> To: Gordon Grimwade <[log in to unmask]>
> Cc: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: WW I air service
>
> Gordon and Gaye
>
> I think you are skewing the evidence here.  I've seen those wonderful
> deposits near Alice Springs, where there are mini-pyramids of discarded
> cans and bottles next to the bars.
>
> But: I'd suspect that per capita, the West of the U.S., for example, or
> any college fraternity here in the U.S. is very little different.
>
> The difference stems from the aird nature, and the lack of recycling or
> re-use of the containers, and the lack of hauling the discarded containers
> off to the dump.  I think any U.S. student or professor will know of some
> weekend in the past when a mini-pyrmaid of beer cans was built at the
> archaeological dig or dorm room.  Here they called hauled off in one
> fashin or another.  In the out-back, they simple stay wewre they are left,
> so after many weekends of mini-pyramids, you end up with a big collection,
> and the erroneous implication that Aussies somehow drink more than the
> rest of the sots around the world.  Not so.
>
> dave
>
>
> On Wed, 17 Sep 2003, Gordon Grimwade wrote:
>
>> Gaye's point is true.  Aussies do drink a fair bit.  So did the Chinese
>> immigrants to north Queensland.  They used upturned beer champagne bottles
>> as form work for a concrete path outside the Temple of Hou Wang in Atherton.
>> Vandals and mowers have smashed quite a few.
>>
>> Gordon Grimwade
>>
>> Gordon Grimwade & Associates,
>> Heritage Consultants,
>> PO Box 9
>> Yungaburra,
>> Queensland, Australia 4872.
>>
>> Web site <gga.com.au>
>>
>> A person who smiles in the face of adversity probably has a scapegoat.
>> (Anon)
>>> From: Gaye Nayton <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Reply-To: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2003 22:26:38 +0800
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: WW I air service
>>>
>>> Are you trying to say Aussie's drink a lot!!!!!!
>>>
>>> In the Pilbara (Western Australia) bottles were used for most garden bed
>>> borders at the port of Cossack and the hotel at Bella Bella had its whole
>>> floor made from upturned bottles (well it was a bit marshy in the
>>> mangroves). Sadly bottle hunters have dug up the lot. The bloke who dug up
>>> the hotel floor took two bottles and smashed the rest. There is a house wall
>>> made of bottles in the Goldfields I believe, that has faired better.
>>>
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "John R Hyett" <[log in to unmask]>
>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Sent: Tuesday, 16 September 2003 6:40 PM
>>> Subject: Re: WW I air service
>>>
>>>
>>>> I can't help with WW1 airfields but some 40 years ago (long before I ever
>>>> thought of becoming an Archaeologist) I worked on fencing the airport in
>>>> Cooktown in far north Queensland, Australia. This airfield was used, I
>>>> believe, by Australian and American forces in the Pacific War. Some of the
>>>> features I noted were
>>>> 1) Parking areas for planes set off among the trees and accessed by roads
>>> of
>>>> the main runway
>>>> 2) Piles of shell cases discarded from the planes machine guns (evidently
>>>> fired while on the ground)
>>>> 3) Foxholes? Machine gun nests? Hollows set in the ground with earthern
>>>> banks and some evidence of roofing, with spaces for the gunners to fire
>>>> through
>>>> 4) Garden beds and paths lined with empty beer bottles buried neck first
>>>> into the ground (well it is hot in the tropics and I suppose you have to
>>> get
>>>> rid of the empties somehow)
>>>> Hope this is of some use
>>>> John
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "McAlexander, William" <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 2:04 AM
>>>> Subject: WW I air service
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> After spending some of the weekend pestering people at the South Central
>>>>> Historical Archeology Conference 6, I was copping names and e-addresses
>>>>> down, when a thought occurred to me.  Why not pester the Histarc list?
>>>>>
>>>>> I hope to soon contact the landowner(s) to ask for permission to
>>>> investigate
>>>>> a WW I air field here in Arkansas.  Before doing so, I would like to
>>> know
>>>> if
>>>>> anyone has done so previously, or could point me in the direction of
>>>> someone
>>>>> who has or is conducting research along those lines.
>>>>>
>>>>> Before going out, I'd like to have an idea of what possible features
>>> could
>>>>> look like.  I suspect they'd be similar to normal early 20th Cent.
>>>> military
>>>>> deposits, but I feel its best to get as thurough a background as
>>> possible,
>>>>> before causing problems.
>>>>>
>>>>> Simple minded me, I believe that it would be a good idea to have a list
>>> of
>>>>> possible scenarios of what could happen or not to better explain to
>>>>> landowner(s) what and why I 'd like to go out poking around.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'd appreciate any help given.  If any do not wish to post to the list,
>>>> here
>>>>> is how I can be reached elsewhere.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>
>>>>> William McAlexander
>>>>> Arkansas State Hwy. and Trans. Dept.
>>>>> 10324 I-30 P.O. box 2261
>>>>> Little Rock, Arkansas 72203
>>>>> (501) 569-2078
>>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>>>
>>>>> Home:
>>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>