Mary and the list

From memory there are a number of publications relating to the history of
the development of hydraulic cements and Portland cement in the Transactions
of the Newcomen Society and a couple of the other 1970s industrial /
archaeological journals from Britain.

Try also the excellent and still available  WB Coney (no date)  Preservation
of historic Concrete: problems and general approaches, US Dept Interior. Its
a USNPS historic peservation brief sort of thing.

Locally in Australia there is a clear progression from a variety of mortars,
with chronologically distinctive inclusions (e.g. burnt shell fragments,
probably mainly from Aboriginal shell middens) to a range of cements.
Concrete (as a cement / aggregate mix) goes through a number of changes as
building and engineering practice develop.  Initially mass concrete was used
with large inclusions (upto 90% by volume) but it had little structural
strength and was used for things like fortifications (in Australia from c.
1875 to the end of the 19th century) where load bearing wasn't generally an
issue.  Reinforcing as a system of tying together a building and
transferring loads is pretty much happening by 1914 in most construction of
any scale.

Its probably not too hard to develop a local chronology for what aggregates
came into use at different times, especially in a geologically interesting
area where distinctive sources are opened up all the time.  They may only be
applicable to a particular town and its commercial building industry.  Also
mixing concrete on the farm is one of the last bastions of well-preserved
cultural tradition being passed from one generation of ham-fisted
incompetents to their offspring.  My own dad thinks he knows everything
there is to know about mixing concrete, because he learned from venerable
grey-beards in his own time and he does it accordingly, and all I know about
it I learned from him, and so on.




> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mary C. Beaudry [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, 1 December 1999 8:29
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Concrete
>
> Hello HISTARCHERS,
> I've been approached about an issue probably more architectural than
> archaeological, but wondered if anyone could help.  A colleague wants to
> know if there is a chronology for
> concrete or any other way to date it.   Not really within my ken, sad to
> say.  Any ideas?
> Thanks, M.
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> ^^^^
> Mary C. Beaudry, Associate Professor
> Department of Archaeology
> Boston University
> 675 Commonwealth Avenue
> Boston, MA 02215
>
> tel. 617-353-3415
> fax. 617-353-6800
> email [log in to unmask]
>
> http://www.bu.edu/archaeology/faculty/beaudry/beaudry.html
>
> Field School:
> http://www.bu.edu/archaeology/faculty/beaudry/fs_heb.html
>
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