Dear Dr. McKee,
	I had a similar carbon core, an unprovienced stream find, in my
type collection for years at the U of Del.  However, the 1927 Sears &
Roebuck Catalog, (p.666) shows a 7.5 inch dry cell battery that could
easily hold the 5.57 rod you have.  The 1908 catalog illustrates
batteries up to 3.5x8 inches.  Apparently, they were sold by size not by
voltage content.

Keith Doms   

-----Original Message-----
From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
McKee, Larry (Nashville,TN-US)
Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2007 11:40 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Carbon electrode rods - ID sources

Work on early 20th century sites commonly produces molded or extruded
carbon rods of various sizes, generally identified as cores from
zinc/carbon cells or batteries. Our recent excavation at a relatively
isolated farmstead in Missouri produced one single oversized example out
of a deposit datable to the first decade of the 20th century. The piece
is 5.75 in long, cylindrical with flattened ridges along its length, 1
in. in diameter, and with a hole at one end filled with corroded whitish
material and what might be the remnants of a copper wire.