Dear All,

Thanks for the useful feedback on carbon rods.

As to the question regarding the rods in question are from batteries or
arc lamps, I think both phenomena may be occurring.

One site where I've observed them was a residential cottage on the edge of
a now-isolated Australian port where electricity came relatively late, and
where many of the rods still had portions of their exterior battery casing
attached.  It seems to me that re-worked battery rods are the more likely
explanation in this context.

The sites that precipitated this query, however, are from a project in
central Sheffield (UK) with a mixture of industrial and urban sub-sites. 
It strikes me that arc lamp rods, which Bob Skiles noted had to be
sharpened (and were indeed often referred to and used as 'carbon pencils')
are a far more likely explanation in this context.


In sum, I believe that both sharpened carbon battery rods and sharpened
arc lamp rods both occur.  Anecdotally, it would seem that the latter are
more common, but that the former also occur, and should be considered as
an option in assemblage interpretation.

Bob Skiles mentioned to me separately off-list that arc lamp carbon rods
are apparently longer than battery rods, but given that the former are
whittled down and sharpened over time, this fact probably isn't going to
be too much help in identification and interpretation.  It strikes me that
this is one of those times when the artefacts (with apologies for UK
spelling) need to be considered within the totality of the assemblage and
site context rather than in isolation (which is what we all do anyway,
right?).

Thanks again,

Alasdair