Keep working on that inventory and chronology. If there is a
narrowing perhaps we will end up with "carbon rod dating" similar to
pipe stem dating minus the hold. I have always wondered if it was
possible to do something with an artifact we all fine on almost all
sites and your comments on function and use are really interesting. I
have seen catalogs on batteries but not on the rods. How were they
made and who made them - the battery makers or some more specialized companies?
Bob Schuyler
At 03:07 AM 1/23/2009, jakob crockett wrote:
>Hello,
>
>I have no useful info re: modified carbon rods, but I am in the
>process of putting together a typology/chronology of carbon rods,
>which may be of interest to the list in general. The
>typology/chronology is based on primary documents gathered at
>Winterthur, including manufacturing, distributing, and retailer trade
>catalogs of the late 19th and early 20th century. This is a low
>priority project right now, as it only fits tangentially into my
>research, but I poke at it when I've the time. So far, it appears
>that the typology will be useful--in some cases--for identifying the
>size of the battery (in terms of current, which might be useful in
>narrowing down the range of circuits it may have been used for, e.g.
>telephone or door bell) or arc lamp. There also seems to be narrowing
>of ranges available over time in terms of diameter, which could aid in
>dating.
>
>I'll let the list know when the typology is (more) complete.
>
>Best wishes,
>Jake
>
>--
>Jakob Crockett
>
>Department of Anthropology
>University of South Carolina
>Hamilton College, Room 317
>Columbia, SC 29208
>
>http://mannsimons.freehostia.com
>
> > Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 09:45:29 -0600
> > From: Alasdair Brooks <[log in to unmask]>
> > Subject: re-use of carbon battery rods
> >
> > 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
> >
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