John Cornelison
 
Wrote
>
>Several years ago (I think 3) someone did a paper at the Southeast
>Archeological Conference (SEAC) meetings on using a wire gauge to collect
>pipe stem measurements.  He stated that this removed much of the error
>that is seen when this dating technique is used.  Unfortunately, I did not
>get a copy of the paper.  Does anyone know who gave this paper or have any
>references that might explain this technique.
 
 
Just a note which may be of interest, some years ago I did a study of a box
of 250 clay pipes found on the wreck of the VOC ship Vergulde Draeck
(1656). Examination of the collection, which was entirely from one maker,
and possibly a consignment, showed that measuring the bore diameters with a
travelling microscope gave two different diameters. What was more
interesting was using a standard set of drill diameters, not only did
drills/wire damage the hole but the increments were unable to verify the
two diameters. Also, most holes were eliptical not circular. None of the
dates from the formulae gave the correct date. Anyone interested I can
provide more details.
This was all published in
Green, J.N., (1977),
The A.V.O.C. Jacht Vergulde Draeck wrecked Western Australia 1656.
British Archaeological Reports, Supplementary Series 36, Oxford.
 
Jeremy Green
Dept. Maritime Archaeology           __?__
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