Hi.  We found a larger-than-flashlight-core carbon rod at the 
steamboat debris field at the West Memphis Ghost Boats site (ca 
1910-20) and we took it for a carbon-arc lamp remnant, with, as I 
recall, some confirmation from an old riverman.  Mark Twain in Life 
on the Mississippi called them "daylight in a box" and contrasted 
them with the primitive pine-pitch-in-a-basket lighting he knew as a 
cub.  I'll have to check the measurements.  At the Moser farmstead 
site (1880s-1920) in Ozarks Benton Co. in Arkansas we found a battery 
core that matched the 1890s Sears catalog, and also 3 or 4 from a dry 
cell battery at the Polk farmstead (1920s-30s) house cellar in 
Ouachitas Howard Co. in Arkansas.

At 10:39 AM 5/22/2007, you wrote:
>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.
>
>
>
>We haven't been able to track down much about specifics on these carbon
>rods, in terms of manufacturing dates and specific uses for different
>sizes and configurations. Any suggestions for such sources or references
>to archaeological studies with more information on these artifacts will
>be greatly appreciated.
>
>
>
>Larry McKee, Ph.D., RPA
>
>Program Manager and Senior Archaeologist
>
>
>TRC
>
>1865 Air Lane Dr., Suite 9
>
>Nashville, TN, 37210
>
>
>
>615.884.4430  phone
>615.884.4431  fax
>615.594.4675  cell
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>