Tag Archives: Space Archaeology

by Aylza Donald, Graduate Diploma in Archaeology and Heritage Management student

This is the last of four blog posts I have written as part of my Directed Study project on cable ties. In this post I’m summarising my project and identifying some things I wish I had been able to investigate further.

This is my contextualisation of cable tie invention, development and spread, there are other ways to do it, but this one is mine.

When I came to write this last blog post I kept thinking about the US Marine Corps Creed which begins ‘This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine’. I’ve turned the saying around a bit so it encapsulates the process of my research. There ARE other ways of approaching and investigating cable ties, but this one is mine. The saying might have got into my head because I have spent so much time investigating cable ties in relation to military conflict, but I suspect it also has to do with my approach to events and processes, as well as my reading across disciplines, including military and technical histories, Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) and material culture studies, anthropology, archaeology and the work of French Theorist Paul Virilio, who ‘writes of the military conception of history’ (Armitage 2000:np). I chose to focus on military contexts and the contexts of ‘Globalisation’, ‘Supermodernity or ‘Hypermodernity’ and ‘Hyperconsumerism’. This led me down some very interesting avenues of research, so much so that it has been hard to choose what to include in the project paper and what to leave out.

I picked three innovations which influenced the invention of cable ties and were shaped by military priorities during World War Two. The development of the aviation gas turbine or ‘jet’ engine directly contributed to what cable tie inventor Maurus C. Logan saw on his visit to a Boeing plant in 1956, which is when he identified the need for his invention. The capacity to manufacture cable ties was directly related to the development and refinement of nylon material and injection moulding technology during the war.

The ‘Cold War’, and Korean and Vietnam Wars heralded a worldwide jet aircraft design and building phase. Increasing numbers of both military and civilian jet engine aircraft were manufactured because their

low weight-to-power ratio of gas turbines and their increasingly powerful thrust made them the unrivaled prime-mover choice for all post-World War II fighters and bombers and for commercial … aviation.

(Smil 2010:96)

It is not possible to guess which aircraft Logan saw being built when he visited the Boeing assembly plant in 1956 but it is fairly likely it was a jet engine aircraft. Logan timed his invention brilliantly. More and more jet aircraft were being built, using technology which meant more and more cabling was required in each aircraft. The significance of this timing should not be underestimated. Had he come up with the idea in the 1930s it may not have been successful. Without WW2 the development of aviation jet engines would still have occurred, but would have taken longer.

The Cold War went hand in hand with the ‘Space Race’. The USA were beaten to the jump to get the first orbiting satellite into space when the Soviets launched the ‘Sputnik’ in 1957 (Cowan 1997:266). The USA poured money into research and development to try to catch up and surpass the Soviet space program. So not only were more aircraft with more cables built, but more missiles, satellites and spacecraft were designed and manufactured, along with more launch pads and satellite tracking stations, all of which used extensive and complex cabling. So Logan’s invention ‘caught the wave’ of both intensive jet aircraft manufacture and aerospace applications. This close association with military and aerospace applications also contributed to cable ties being subject to particular standards and military specifications.

The advent of ‘globalisation’, ‘supermodernity or ‘hypermodernity’ and ‘hyperconsumerism’ drove changes in cable tie manufacture, distribution and consumption. Essentially, more and more cable ties are being produced and consumed and in increasing varieties. At the same time changes in the automotive, electrical, personal computing and home theatre arenas have resulted in an ever-increasing number of ‘things’ connected with cables becoming part of the domestic sphere. There are ‘cable management’ requirements in homes and offices, as well as myriads of other uses. This proliferation is a hallmark of contemporary material culture and is related to ‘the incredibly rapid rate of technological change, which produces a situation where there is a great deal of variation in the uptake of different forms of technology’ (Harrison and Schofield 2010: 178).

My cable tie database research demonstrated the vast extent of cable tie manufacture and consumption. Reviewing company websites selected on particular criteria led to a series of ‘unknown unknowns’. I had fairly strict criteria for companies to be included in my research but I found the numbers and types of cable ties they stocked could vary from fairly basic and manageable to over a thousand items per company. I restricted the information I included, because to include details of all the kinds of cable ties would take a lifetime, possibly longer.

There are lots of unanswered questions that I wish I had time to fit into this project. I wonder how aircraft wiring and cabling was managed in World War Two, and what cable management techniques the Soviet Union used during the Cold War and Space Race. I’m still curious about the crossover from specialised aerospace to everyday life. Although it pretty much coincides with globalisation, the move into the domestic sphere must have started gradually and it would be worth investigating the minutia of that process. I started this project because I wanted to know more about cable ties. The more I have learned about them, the more I realise I don’t know. I submitted a cable ties poster to the WAC8 Conference with my industry partner for this project, Dr Alice Gorman, so I am happy that the end of this project is not the end of my cable tie research.

by Aylza Donald, Graduate Diploma in Archaeology and Heritage Management student

This is the third of four blog posts I am writing for my directed study course this semester. In my first post I wrote about my approach to this project. In my second blog post I discussed some of the reading I was doing, while figuring out how to place cable tie development in a technological, social and political context. This blog post is about some of my data collection challenges and the strategies I’m using to address them. It’s also about my efforts to understand how standards and specifications operate for cable ties, as there is more than one kind of organisation involved in this, and more than one type of classification.

One of the aims of this project is to research contemporary and recent cable tie variations, with Australia as a case study. Another aim is to make a database of cable tie morphology and variation, including specifications, suppliers and manufacturers in Australia. The database will provide a sample of the types of cable ties currently in use and facilitate future research. It will also supplement data from the Flinders archaeology field school at the Orroral Valley NASA Tracking Station, which documents types of cable ties used in this installation between 1965 and 1985 (Gorman 2016:103).

Before starting this project I knew there were many kinds of cable ties in automotive suppliers, marine chandleries and hardware shops. I was prepared to select a range of companies making and /or selling a variety of cable ties to demonstrate what is currently available in Australia. I was aware that documenting all manufacturers and suppliers and all available cable ties would not be possible in one semester: or even in one year. My intention was to categorise some of the key features of the cable ties stocked by the companies I selected, and enter them into a database along with the company details.

Some preliminary investigations into the range of cable ties online, including retail and wholesale suppliers, made me realise I would only be able document a small proportion of what was available. For everyday items that are seemingly so simple, cable ties are actually quite diverse. While it is tempting to think of them as all being the same, they are actually made in different sizes, colours and materials as well as to particular specifications, features, standards and classifications. Further online investigations into companies making and/or selling cable ties in Australia revealed far more businesses than I had imagined, selling more kinds of cable ties than I ever thought possible. On the one hand, this means making strict criteria for my database so I’m not swamped with more data than I can deal with. On the other hand, just having such a huge range is a kind of data in itself. Other contemporary material culture items such as shipping containers have become more standardised in terms of size and shape since the first commercial shipment in the late 1950s (Levinson 2006). Cable ties, which were invented about the same time as the first container shipment, have proliferated into every colour and size imaginable, with variations in materials, types, designs and features.

I carried out a targeted online search to identify companies for my database. In amongst the names of companies making and /or selling cable ties, I found some unexpected results, such as; putting cable ties on bicycle helmets to keep magpies away, stopping people from opening your suitcase when you are travelling, and a stunning cable tie ring (see Figure 1 below). The appearance of the cable tie ring, which can be made in ‘sterling silver, 9ct yellow, white or rose gold or platinum’, reinforced my idea that cable ties are examples of everyday material culture which have iconic status. There is something symbolic about being able to wear a platinum ring modelled on such a humble object.

As well as coming to grips with the database, I’ve been investigating cable tie specifications and standards. ‘All cable ties are not created equal’ and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), a US based organisation sets technical standards for many products, including cable ties. There are also military specifications and standards for cable ties such as the Aerospace Standard SAE-AS23190C (SAE 2015) set by SAE International, a worldwide association of engineers and technical experts. Other cable tie standards are also available from an independent global safety company called Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL). Some overseas countries have specific standards for cable ties in electrical installations but I have not been able to find any equivalent Australian standards. The Australian and New Zealand Installation and safety requirements for photovoltaic (PV) arrays AS/NZS5033:2014 (Standards Australia 2014), and Electrical installations (known as the Australian/New Zealand Wiring Rules) AS/NZS3000:2007 (Standards Australia 2007), are not free to download, so I haven’t been able to see if they deal specifically with cable ties. I have noticed some companies in my database use the UL standards to indicate the quality of their cable ties, perhaps because it is a global company.

Selecting data for the database has been a challenge. To limit the number of companies I have used fairly strict inclusion criteria. I have also decided to summarise some key details about the cable ties being made and/or sold, and chosen specific cable tie characteristics to focus on. Learning about the different standards and specifications has made choosing these characteristics much easier. I’m categorising the cable ties based on whether or not they meet the requirements of named standards and specifications and identifying which standards and or specifications are being met. Even though marshalling this information sometimes feels like herding cats, I think it is capturing a sample of current cable tie use in Australia which can contribute to future research.

Standards

SAE International 2015 SAE Standard AS23190C: Wiring, Positioning, and Support Accessories. SAE International Publications, Warrendale, PA.

Standards Australia 2007 Australian Standard AS/NZS 3000:2007: Electrical installations (known as the Australian/New Zealand Wiring Rules). Standards Australia, Sydney.

Standards Australia 2014 Australian Standard AS/NZS5033 2014: Australian and New Zealand Installation and safety requirements for photovoltaic (PV) arrays. Standards Australia, Sydney.

by Aylza Donald, Graduate Diploma in Archaeology and Heritage Management student

This semester I will be writing four blog posts for the Flinders Archaeology Blog. These posts are part of the course requirements of ARCH8404 Directed Study in Archaeology. This first post explains why I chose my topic and outlines the project aims and proposed outcomes.

Why Cable Ties: an anthropologist does archaeology
I’m an anthropologist and for most of the last five years I’ve worked in Aboriginal cultural heritage. On some projects I’ve been lucky enough to work with archaeologists and learn from them ‘in the field’. At first I wanted to know about the cultural materials that they identified and recorded, and then became more interested in the ideas, methods and analysis they used. Eventually I decided to study archaeology and at the beginning of last year I enrolled in the Graduate Diploma in Archaeology and Heritage Management.

Figure 1. Cable tie image courtesy of lossenderosstudio

Since starting the Grad Dip I’ve found most archaeological writing doesn’t give me a sense of who the archaeologists are, or why they have chosen particular topics to research. In books and peer reviewed journals the standard approach seems to include background research, methodology and results in detail, but the archaeologist as researcher is unlikely to appear in the text. This is quite different to the anthropological approach, which is more likely to be reflexive and include the researcher in the text as the anthropological ‘I’ (for example see Hume and Mulcock (2004) and Okely and Callaway (1992)). There are exceptions, such as Brown (2010; 2012) and Brown, Clarke and Frederick (2015), but overall it seems to me that anthropological ‘reflexivity’ is not a feature of archaeological writing, although I might not have read enough archaeological literature due to being new to the discipline. What I have noticed is that some archaeological blogs explicitly address the writer’s motivations and perspectives (for example see Dr Alice Gorman, Dr Shawn Graham, Homeless Archaeology at York University, Dr Colleen Morgan and Andrew Reinhard).

As a student anthropologist I learned that researchers are always ‘positioned’ in relation to their research. Kirsten Hastrup (1995:4), one of my favourite anthropologists, states that ‘There is no way of seeing from “nowhere in particular”’. So rather than approaching this project in a ‘neutral’ or ‘objective’ style, I am including the anthropological ‘I’ as an integral part of my research process.

This cable tie project started when I saw a presentation by Dr Alice Gorman about the Flinders archaeology field school at the Orroral Valley NASA Tracking Station in the Australian Capital Territory. It was several years before the start of my archaeological studies, so I was amazed to discover that that space archaeology is a thing and cable ties are a legitimate artefact study.

Figure 2. Cable tie recorded during the Orroral Valley field school showing tail and diameter of cable bundle. Image: Alice Gorman (Gorman 2016:108)

For anyone who is not familiar with them, cable ties are ‘one-piece, self-locking single use tape[s] with a ratchet in small open case at one end. Once the ratchet is engaged, the tie can only be pulled tighter’ (Gorman 2016:113). They are mainly made of nylon or types of plastic and some are made of metal.

I grew up making and fixing things with ‘number 8 wire’ and have also used cable ties since realising how useful they are. But I had never thought of them in a historical sense, or as items of material culture that could be investigated. I began to think about their trajectory from specialised aviation and aerospace applications to part of people’s everyday lives, including mine. I also began to consider their various purposes and specifications, from specialised aerospace and industrial uses to random everyday activities. I ended up asking Alice if she would be my directed study industry partner for a cable tie project. She was kind enough to agree and helped me work out the project aims and outcomes.

Project Aims and Outcomes

The aims of this directed study project are to:

• Research contemporary and recent cable tie variations focusing on Australian suppliers and manufacturers.
• Consider the development of cable ties in terms of other technological innovations and social and political changes.
• Make a database of cable tie morphology and variation. The database will include contemporary & recent cable tie specifications, suppliers & manufacturers in Australia that will facilitate future research.

Directed study projects are required to have certain set outcomes, one of which is a 6,000-10,000 word article. For this project the outcomes are:

• A publically accessible database of contemporary & recent cable tie specifications, suppliers & manufacturers in Australia
• A 6-10,000 word Dig It article on the development of cable ties in the context of other technological innovations & social and political changes, contemporary material culture and the process of making the database. Each blog post will form part of the draft of the Dig It article.
• An article for an international peer reviewed journal to be written with Alice

Reference List

Brown, S. 2010 Buggering Around in the Backyard: Creating Attachment to Place through Archaeology and Material Culture. Australian Archaeology 71: 74-78.

Brown, S. 2012 Toward an archaeology of the twentieth-century suburban backyard. Archaeology in Oceania 47(2): 99-106.

Brown, S., A. Clarke and U. Frederick (eds) 2015 Object Stories: Artifacts and Archaeologists. California: Left Coast Press. Retrieved several times between 1 and 19 April 2016 from http://reader.eblib.com.ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/%28S%28ugd5rpmn0okc1buqndhfs4m0%29%29/Reader.aspx?p=1912033&o=478&u=h3EsHs%2fgPLoqtJF7nZhiHw%3d%3d&t=1461052222&h=77716714D278F0BA04B764CCAE7FC835E09C543E&ut=1451&pg=1&r=img&c=-1&pat=n&cms=-1&sd=2

Gorman, A. 2016 Tracking Cable Ties: Contemporary Archaeology at a Nasa Satellite Tracking Station. In U.K. Frederick and A. Clarke (eds), That Was Then, This Is Now: Contemporary Archaeology and Material Cultures in Australia, pp.101-117. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Hastrup, K. 1995 A Passage to Anthropology: between experience and theory. London: Routledge.

Hume, L. and J. Mulcock (eds) 2004 Anthropologists in the Field: Cases in Participant Observation. New York; Columbia University Press.

Okely, J. and H. Callaway 1992 Anthropology and Autobiography. Routledge: New York.