Patent Pending Blog - Patents and the History of Technology

Ancient Ceramic Archimedes Screw Found

Below is a picture of a strange technology, that maybe some smart person can identify.  This is what appears to be a clay or ceramic Archimedes Screw.  This is one of several pieces of the devices, which were bound together.  They were found on a bluff overlooking the Savannah river, about 10 miles upstream.  There  was a settlement of people from Austria in the area who immigrated to the region in starting in about 1730.   They made a settlement about 100 yards from the river.

By the shape of it I am guessing it is an Archimedes screw, presumably made to lift water.  How would something this heavy be supported for turning?  I wonder if anyone has heard of ceramic screws of this type being made in Austria or anywhere else?

1907 Screw Drive Vehicle

Thanks to Terry Harper, who informs that "one of the earliest such vehicles was patented by Ira Peavey of Maine in 1907. At least two were built and tested succesfully. One was stream poweredm the other used a gasoline engine.

Peavey's machine was designed to haul trains of sleds loaded with logs. However, he had to compete with Alvin Lombards steam Log hauler which had appeared earlier in 1902. While Peavey's machine worked great on hard packed snow it was near useless in soft powder. In addition its relatively rigid construction meant that it tended to rear and plunge over the hills and humocks associated with a rough winter haul road and was quite hard on the drawbars of the sleds. In this respect the Lombard proved to be a much better machine and dominated the market here in the north east."