Dear All,

I have a sneaking suspicion that this has come up before, so apologies for
potentially raising an old topic, but...

Over the last few years, I've worked on or been associated with sites in
both Australia and the UK where large numbers of late 19th- to early
20th-century carbon battery rods were recovered.

A small, but noticeable, portion of these - some (if memory serves) found
in the same context as slate pencils and writing slates - had clearly been
sharpened at one end in manner similar to a sharpened pencil.  I'm
currently doing the glass for a Sheffield (UK) based project where another
colleague has been identifying these 'sharpened' battery rods in some
quantity.

My question is: do any of you know of any citations in the archaeological
(or other) literature that addresses this phenomenon, particularly as
regards confirmation (or otherwise) of the recycling of carbon battery
rods as pencils.


A quick google search reveals some references to the reverse (how to use a
pencil's graphite core in a home-made battery), but not to battery rod
recycling.

Please send (or cc) replies off-list in the first instance as the other
colleague involved doesn't subscribe to HISTARCH - but I promise to
collate any and all references (if there are any) into a single handy
post.

Anecdotal reports, rather than academic citations, of the occurrence of
re-used battery rods are also welcome.

Thank you,

Alasdair Brooks