North America, Eastern Woodland, ca. 200 to 1000 CE. A handsome pipe carved from a grey stone and presenting a very smooth finish. Platform pipes like this exemplify smoking technology during the Middle Woodland period. These pipes were not just made for the simple act of smoking; they had a strong religious component as well, and various archaeological sites from the period, such as the Hopewell Mound sites, have the remains of hundreds of destroyed platform pipes. Others were buried with their owners individually. Size: 7.125" L x 2.125" H (18.1 cm x 5.4 cm)

Smoking pipes played an important role in Eastern Woodland culture, which spanned from sub-Arctic Canada to the southern United States. The earliest evidence we have for the use of tobacco in this area comes from ca. 100 to 200 CE; in addition to tobacco, and often prior to it, we know from ethnohistorical accounts that people smoked a variety of other plants, including dogwood, juniper, sumac, and bearberry.

Provenance: private Hagar Collection, St. Louis, Missouri, USA

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#122386

Normal surface wear commensurate with age. Divots to the surface are for the most part integral to the stone.