The Archeology of Lighting Appliances. by J. Romjlly Allen, F.S.A
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E ARCHEOLOGTH LIGHTINF YO G APPLIANCES9 7 . III THE ARCHEOLOGY OF LIGHTING APPLIANCES. BY J. ROMJLLY ALLEN, F.S.A. SCOT. The rapid advances made in science by the present generation have bee e meannth f effectino s g improvement n everi s y kin f appliancdo e that minister wante th f mano st o amongsd an , varioue th t invenw sne - tions which, have been introduced none are of more importance than those connected with artificial methods of illumination. At the beginning of this century gas was taking the place of animal oil for lighting purposestowardw no d s clos sit itsels an , ega f seems destined supersedee b o t petroleuy db electricityr mo talloe Th w. candl rushd ean - light, with which our forefathers were familiar, are already things of the past. The old Scotch crusie is becoming so rare as to be prized by collectors of antiquities, and is hardly to be found except in museums. Developmen d evolutioan t n amongso n o seeg o mt human inventions ver animae yth muc n r vegetabli o l s ha e world. Although development and evolutio n amongso o ng t human inventions e conditionth , n i e ar s many ways different from those existin animae th vegetabld n gi lan e world, ansame dth t eappl lawno n botyo i sd h cases tha o e analogs , th t y musb pushee b f course t faro O no dto . l theorieal , s founde factn do s connected with the reproduction of species, limited supply of food, &c., only hold good with regard to living creatures or plants ; but the invention, like the animal, which is best suited to its environment, will survive the longest, extinguisd an h form welo s st l whicadapteno e har circumstanceso dt . Englisd ol same thay e th hth tewa n I gre t existeyra hundredr dfo s or perhaps thousand f yearo s n thii s s country t becambu , e suddenly extinct whe e browth n n Norwegia t appearera n d upo e sceneth ne th , toold appliancean s n sometimes ma use y b d s remain unchanger fo d centuries, unti improvemenn a l suggestes i t accidenty db r inventeo , y b d individuan a f exceptionao l l brain power e forc f Th habio e. , howis t - ever, so great, and man is so naturally conservative in his instincts, that 0 8 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE TH F O S , JANUAR , 1888Y23 . he often continues to employ the same weapons of defence which his ancestors did until better forms are introduced by a conquering race. At a period like the present, when changes seem to be • taking place with unusual rapidity, it is the duty of the archteologist to preserve a recor f everdo y human inventio t i become s a n s extinct o thas , t future generation able b trac o et y e progres eth sma s development it f so n i d an , orde reduco t r objectmuseume r eth ou n i s s labelled f "unknowo "e nus smallese th o t t possible number. In tracing out the history of the various appliances used by man, as is done to a certain extent in Tylor's Anthropology, each invention should be taken in the order in which it becomes absolutely necessary to our existence pase w ss a fro, e lowemth r form f civilisatioo s e higherth o nt . First of all come the appliances required for obtaining food, for striking firer cooking e fo manufactur, th r fo , f clotheso e r makinfo , g dwellings, afted an r these, especiall northera n yi n climate, would com e applieth - ance r producinsfo artifician ga l light meany b , f whicso e portiohth f no the nigh t requireno t resr dfo t coul utilisee db worr dfo r amusement ko . Artificial illumination is usually effected by burning some solid, liquid, r gaseouo s substanceo caust s a e o as , flame t lighn bu als;e ca b ot obtained from a solid in a state of incandescence—that is to say, not actually burning t sufficientlbu , y heate o becomt d e visibldarke th n .i e Lastly, certain insect d decayinan s g matter a particula n i , r condition, possess the property of emitting light known as phosphorescence. We shall now proceed to describe the different kinds of lighting appliances used fro earliesmthe t times. LAMPS. A lamp is an apparatus for giving light by burning a fibrous wick saturated with an inflammable fluid, a continual supply of which is kep frop u t mreservoia r provide purposee th r dfo . In its more perfect form a lamp consists of the following essential parts :—the receptacle stanwice th th oile r tube kr ; do th th ;fo er efo hook for suspension ; the handle for carrying. Contrivances are also required for bringing the oil to the wick; raisin r loweringo e wickgth ; catchin e superfluougth s oil; facilitating THE ARCHEOLOGY OF LIGHTING APPLIANCES. 81 combustion by a draught of air; protecting the flame from currents of air. The ahove are either attached to the lamp or form part of it, but separate instruments are used for trimming the wick; extinguishing the flame; replenishing the supply of oil. In some lamps adjustments are introduced for altering the position of flame th n relatioi e objece th whicn o no t t lighe hth requires i t e b o dt thrown, bringing the point of suspension over the centre of gravity of l vesseloi e th . The different varieties of lamps will now be described in the order of their development, e showinmorth ew complicateho g d forms were arrived at by a gradual process of improvement. Lamps.—Openp Gu The simplest kin f lamo d p consist a shallo f so w cup, abou inche3 t n diameteri s , filled wit e lighh oils Th obtainei t . d from a cotton wick dipped in the oil, and hanging over the edge of the cup. The earliest specimens are made of stone or rude pottery, and date neolithie bacth o kt c same periodth t e primitivbu , e typ stils i e l uset da the present day in China and other Eastern countries. Chalk cups, which most probably serve purpose th d f lampso e , were discoveren i d anciene th t flint mines called " Grimes Graves t Brandon"a Suffolk,n i , 1 n similai d an r excavation e camth f Cissburyt o pa s , near Worthing in Sussex.2 e Yorth n kI Museum therruda s i e cla yp shap a lam cu n o f ep o stem and provided with a handle, found at Danes Graves, near Pockling- ton, in Yorkshire.3 firse e improvemeno Th providt t lamth p stes cu n pi wa p e a th f o t separat . in Thi e e e wicholloli sth stag o kr t wf fo developmene o s wa t reached in the stone lamps of the Iron Age, found in the brochs and weem n i Scotlands f whico , h ther e numerouar e s examplee th n i s Museu f Nationamo l Antiquitie Edinburghn si e stonTh e. lamps from the brochs of Kettleburn and Okstrow,* in Orkney (figs. 1, 2), are oval Boyd Dawkins, Early Man in Britain, p. 277. 21 Jour. Brit. Anhceol. Inst., vol. xxxi. p, 54. 3 Catalogue of York Museum, p. 152. 4 Dr J, Anderson's Scotland in Pagan Times, p. 241. VOL. XXII. F 82 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, JANUARY 23, 1888. lumps of sandstone, with two circular depressions running into each other largee beinth e , on r g intende smallee th hol o e dt d oile don rth an , .Fig . 1 . Fig. 2 . Stone Lamps, from Broehs or Kettlebur Okstrowd nan . wicke fo morth rA . e finished specime founs undern na wa (fign di ) 3 -. ground hous t Tealinga e n Forfarshirei , , e outline whicth th s f ha heo stone neatl suio shape hollowse t t th th t yf cu e o . Fig , Ston3 . e Lamp, fro Eartlihousn ma t Tealingea . In the British Museum there are several Koman lamps of the same pattern, made of lead, bronze, and pottery,1 some with handles (as fig. 4), and others with hooks for suspension. Open cup lamps of stone are employed by the Eskimo tribes at the present day, but they are of different shape from those just described, and much longer, being intended for giving heat as well as light, 1 Foun Londonn di , Colchester, Lincoln elsewhered an , . E AKCHyEOLOGTH F LIGHTINYO G APPLIANCES. 83 Specimens may be seen in the Christy Collection in the British Museum, and an accurate account of their use is given by Baron Nordenskiold in the Voyage of the Vega. The form of these lamps is peculiar, and difficult to realise withou1 t a drawing. It consists of a bowl Fig. 4. Open Lamp, Bronze (Roman), found at Bayford, now in British Museum. (as see , n figshalloi n5) . n i fronwd dee an tp behind n I pla. n e fron th e bacs i straighth t kd an semicirculart . Nea e fronth r t edge is a raised ridge, running parallel to it, and dividing the lamp into two parts. The shallow trough thus separated off from the rest is for the wick to lie in, along the straight edge in front.