The Stone Age in North America

Fig. 476 C. (S. 1–2.) This beautiful little pipe is of a type occasionally found in Pennsylvania and the Carolinas. It may not be prehistoric. At any rate, it is an interesting specimen. Collection of Dudley A. Martin, Duboistown, Pennsylvania.

Most of these tubular pipes are much larger at one end than the other, corresponding to the bowl, which is more highly developed in later forms. There is one in the Andover collection that was obtained from the Hupa Indians of California about fifty years ago by an early settler. The stem is round, made of redwood, and a stone ring surrounds the bowl. The tobacco would of necessity have to be packed tightly when one smoked such a pipe, unless, as has been reported, the smoker lay upon his back.

Fig. 457 is a roughly outlined and unfinished effigy pipe, which when complete was intended to represent the head of some animal. In this we have evidence of the method of work on the part of the maker. Instead of the hand-hammer it would appear that a cutting-tool had been used. He had begun to rim out the bowl on the top of the head, but the stem hole is not yet in evidence.

Fig. 477. (S. 1–1.) Eagle pipe. Clarence B. Moore. A superb pipe of limestone representing an eagle. “This pipe, 4.6 inches in length, carved with great spirit, is a worthy exemplar of the prehistoric art of Moundville. The bird is represented on its back, the head swung around to one side with the beak open and tongue extended. Incidentally, it may be said that the ‘hump’ shown on the tongue by the native artist, though somewhat exaggerated, is not imaginary, as may be proved upon examination of an eagle. It may be that this pipe, showing as it does the eagle lying on its back, its legs and claws on the belly, represents the dead bird. By pulling out the tongue of a dead eagle one would be certain to notice the ‘hump’; hence the examination of a dead bird would have sufficed so far as correct rendering on the pipe was concerned. On the other hand, the ‘hump’ on the tongue is plainly shown on pottery from Moundville, where the eagle’s head is erect and the bird is evidently represented as alive.”

It is in the effigy pipes themselves as a class that we see the greatest skill and care manifested in the manufacture of these strange objects. This does not, however, mean that all effigy pipes are models of the carver’s art, as many of them show poor workmanship. In other words, the art in pipes is no exception to the rule of art elsewhere. There were those who understood their business and produced masterpieces, and there were those who produced just the opposite. There may be a totally different method of treatment in representing the same creature, as for instance Figs. 468 and 470 showing the Iroquois treatment of human and bird forms in life; and the Southern Mound-Builder, Figs. 473, 474 A, 499, illustrating birds and men. The Iroquois and the Plains tribes made pipes more nearly like our modern pipes of to-day. The bowl was round or angular, and the stem long and tapering, or angular. Excellent examples from the Buffalo collection are shown in Fig. 465.

Fig. 477 A. (S. 1–1.) Eagle pipe. Clarence B. Moore. “Several experts who have charge of eagles in captivity inform us that under certain circumstances the ‘hump’ on the tongue is visible on the living bird. Possibly the aboriginal artist at Moundville was familiar with the characteristics on eagles through the possession there of captive birds—a custom observed among the Zuñi of New Mexico at the present time.

“Owing to slight disintegration of the stone at that part of the pipe where the head is, the details of the carving are somewhat indistinct, but by holding the pipe in a suitable light all the details of the head are still distinguishable. A wing is represented on each side. The legs, beginning at the tail, which extends outward, rise upward and forward, the feet and talons resting on the belly and embracing the orifice of the bowl. The opening for the stem is immediately above the tail.”^[14]

Fig. 478. (S. 1–1.) Handled pipe. This figure “represents one of the oldest handled pipes that has come under the writer’s observation. This interesting specimen was taken from a burial-mound, on the Nicholai farm, Big Bend, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in July, 1902, by Mr. La Fayette Ellerson. With it was found a curved-base mound pipe.” From the collection of G. A. West, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Fig. 478 A. (S. 1–2.) Handled pipe. “Found by Mr. O. S. Ludington, near Prairie du Chien, of red sandstone, formed, mainly by the pecking process, into the shape of a fish, and is 5½ inches long, 2½ inches wide, and 1 inch thick. Its bowl cavity is three fourths of an inch across, the stem hole nearly as large, and both are cone-shaped, having been made with a stone drill. This specimen is not worked down smooth, nor does it exhibit file marks.” From the collection of G. A. West, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Fig. 479. (S. 1–3.) Six interesting effigy pipes from the collection of Bennett H. Young, Louisville, Kentucky.

Fig. 479 A. Turtle pipe. Milwaukee Museum collection. This figure “is of grayish-brown steatite, 3¼ inches long, 2¼ inches in its greatest width, and with a finely carved upper surface representing a turtle. The bowl is in the centre of the turtle’s back, the stem hole is small, and was doubtless used without the addition of a detachable mouthpiece. The lower part of the body is flat, with no attempt to form either legs or tail.” This specimen was discovered within the southern limits of the city of Milwaukee, and is believed to be one of two ceremonial pipes of turtle-form, so far found in Wisconsin. “The turtle was an emblem of the Sioux, and from the frequent occurrence of its shell in graves must have been held in high esteem by the Indians; yet representations of it in stone are exceedingly rare.”

Fig. 480. (S. 1–1.) Effigy pipe, Hopewell Group.

Fig. 481. (S. 1–1.) Turtle pipe found near Burnett, Dodge County, Wisconsin. Milwaukee Public Museum collection.

Fig. 481 A. (S. 1–1.) Another view of Fig. 481.

The Iroquois pipes and pipes characteristic of the Plains, pipes classified by Mr. McGuire and Mr. West as Micmacs, and other modern pipes, are scattered quite generally throughout north, central, and eastern United States. It is good that Mr. McGuire has given us so careful a distribution of pipes as is set forth in his fifteen divisions. The student of archæology must distinguish between the pipes from the old burial-places and those that are apparently modern. The prehistoric cultures and the modern cultures of our American aborigines here in the United States may be compared with those of Europe; where on one site we might find Roman weapons or implements, those of early Germanic tribes associated with the Roman, and beneath all of these, those of the stone-age type. But if the soil had been disturbed, through digging on the part of people subsequent to these epochs, stone-age objects, together with those of Roman and Germanic occupations, might be found associated together. It follows, therefore, that here in America, when we find modern catlinite pipes and rectangular stone pipes on a village-site or beneath the surface, these may represent different epochs or cultures. These cultures may or may not be separated by hundreds of years.

There are many complications to be taken into consideration, in our study of the distribution of pipes. As has been pointed out, rude pipes are quite as likely to have been made by modern Indians as by prehistoric people.

It does not follow, because the type of pipes recognized as Iroquoian in character is widespread north of the Ohio Valley and Canada, that all pipes in that region were made by the tribes of this stock.

The Iroquois overran the entire territory north of the Ohio and east of the Scioto. We know that they overwhelmed the Eries, Hurons, and others, whose art was quite different.

Fig. 482. (S. 1–2.) Oolitic limestone pipe, Hart County, Kentucky. Highly polished, a beautiful specimen. Collection of Bennett H. Young. These long effigy pipes of this type are to be found in the Smithsonian and American Museum collections. An example in the G. A. West collection, found in Ohio, is 14 inches long.

Fig. 483. (S. 1–1.)

From ossuary in the Township of Manvers, County of Durham, Ontario, Canada.

Collection of J. G. Ogle D’Olier, Rochester, New York.

Fig. 484. (S. 1–1.)

From ossuary in the Township of Manvers, County of Durham, Ontario, Canada.

Collection of J. G. Ogle D’Olier, Rochester, New York.

Fig. 485. (S. 2–3.) Beautiful effigy pipe of a frog found in a grave at Waynesville, Ohio, overlooking the Miami River. Secured by W. K. Moorehead, 1889. Now in the Ohio State University Museum, Columbus.

As I have remarked, these Iroquoian pipes are easily distinguished from other forms; they are not found in the ancient burial-places of the Mississippi Valley. The beautiful mound and grave pipes from the Ohio Valley, the middle South, and the far South, shown in Figs. 474, 477 A, 485 to 491, 494, 496, and 499, are not only of ancient lineage, but show no mark of steel tools, and do not appear to have been inspired by European civilization. On the other hand, many of the pipes referred to do appear to have been suggested by a knowledge of European art. Some of the best effigy pipes, the monitor or platform pipes, were not made of stone, but of a fine grade of fire-clay. There are also effigies in pipes of terra-cotta. In answering a letter requesting information, Professor W. C. Mills, under date of April 27, 1910, said concerning the pipes in his collection: “Of the platform pipes, ten are fire-clay, of the effigy pipes, fifteen are fire-clay, and of the tubular pipes, twenty are fire-clay. The fire-clay pipes were never burned, but were cut from original pieces of clay. Twenty of the miscellaneous pipes are made of potter’s clay.”

Fig. 487. (S. 2–3.) An interesting human effigy found in northern Ohio, now in the collection of the Ohio State University, Columbus.

The bird is much in evidence as a prehistoric sculpture. In fact, there are more bird-pipes than any other life-form. This at once suggests the famous “Thunder Bird,” so famous in Indian mythology in America. Yet if it is true that these effigies are not totemic, as relating to tribes, but stand for “Thunder Birds,” it is curious that so many different kinds of birds should have been represented. There are the hawk, eagle, crow, woodcock, duck, woodpecker, paroquet, and others. Examine Fig. 474 A. It is one of the best sculptures presented in this chapter. Compare this beautiful carving with the following bird-pipes, Figs. 470, 471, 473, 476, 477, 480, where possible readers are advised to visit some public museum or consult a library and study the illustrations of bird-pipes. The range is considerable. Even in so brief space as is afforded in this chapter, it will be observed that it was the intention of the ancient people to represent not one kind of bird but many. The statement frequently made, that it is impossible in some instances to determine just what species of bird was intended, is true. But we have no difficulty in distinguishing between the duck, the eagle, the owl, or the crow, although the different kinds of ducks, or of hawks, might not be differentiated accurately.

Fig. 488. (S. 1–1.) Effigy pipe of limestone. A remarkable effigy pipe found by Mr. Moore in one of the mounds at Moundville, Alabama. This group of mounds has furnished some remarkable specimens in stone and clay.

“In this class the author has placed a small number of very interesting pipes which are provided with an elongated base or handle, by which they were held or supported; and in most examples with a short mouthpiece also. Some are without the latter feature, and were probably furnished with a short stem of wood or bone. They differ considerably as to general shape and manner of ornamentation. A few have the bowls artistically carved to represent the head of a human being, a fish, or an animal.

“A small number of similar pipes have been described from other sections of the United States. Twenty-two examples have been found in Wisconsin, no two of which are of exactly the same pattern. No theory of their authorship among the Wisconsin or other Indians has as yet been advanced. Even though originally limited to one tribe, so convenient a form of pipe is sure to have been copied by individuals belonging to others.

Fig. 489. (S. 2–3.) These pipes were found together in a small mound, a short distance south of St. Louis, Missouri. Collection of H. M. Braun, East St. Louis, Illinois.

Fig. 490. (S. 2–3.) Human effigy pipe, from a grave in the Willis Cemetery, Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Phillips Academy collection.

“Authorities who have written on the subject, seem to regard this type of pipe as modern. Some of the Wisconsin finds contain no marks of metal tools, are unpolished, and have all indications of being prehistoric, while others are new in appearance, finely polished and show evidence of the use of metal tools in their manufacture.”^[15]

Fig. 491. (S. 3–5.) The discs and the effigy pipes were found in 1904 by W. W. Almond while ploughing on a farm near Menard’s Mound, about eight miles from Arkansas Post. It would appear that these were buried together in a cache, and covered with a layer of pottery. These will be described more fully under Conclusions, chapters XXXVI, XXXVII.

Fig. 492. (S. 4–5.) Collection of W. C. Herriman, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Figs. 492 and 493 present two views of a pipe of the ordinary clay material. The bowl is behind the head, passing down the region of the back. The unique feature of this pipe is that when shaken it gives evidence of a hollow sound in the head with several small, hard particles which distinctly rattle. These have never been investigated and their nature is not known.

Fig. 493. (S. 4–5.) Side view of Fig. 492.

Fig. 480 is a remarkable carving in graphite slate. This was found by me on the altar of the effigy mound, Hopewell Group, Ross County, Ohio, during the course of explorations, August 1901–March 1902. The pipe represents a woodcock resting on the back of a grotesque fish. The bird is true to life, the fish is not. No pipe found by Squier and Davis in the famous Mound City Group exceeded this in its beautiful artistic lines and skill evinced in manufacture. With this pipe were thousands of pearl beads, copper ear ornaments, obsidian blades, and other remarkable objects, all of which are foreign to Ohio. The pipe, together with the other objects, is exhibited in the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago.

Fig. 494. (S. about 2–7.) Collection of H. M. Whelpley, St. Louis, Mo. Found near Muskogee, Ind. Ter. Color, terra-cotta; size, eight and one half inches high by five and one half inches anterio-posterior, by four and one eighth inches wide; weight, five pounds. The discoidal in the right hand measures one and three fourths by five eighths inches. Each of the two sticks in the left hand are four and one eighth inches long. Earrings, one by three eighths inch; bead under chin, three fourths by three eighths inch.

Fig. 495. (S. 1–6.) Collection of W. A. Holmes, Chicago, Illinois.

In Figs. 481 and 481 A, I present front and rear views of an effigy pipe from Wisconsin, now in the Milwaukee Public Museum. This is one of the finest examples of mound pipe found in the North. An inspection of the two figures will acquaint readers with the fact that the top and bottom of the pipe represent two kinds of reptilia. Prof. S. A. Barrett, who kindly furnished this and some other photographs for me, explains this peculiarity as follows:

Fig. 496. (S. 1–2.) Collection of Leslie W. Hills, Fort Wayne, Indiana. The effigy to the left is a remarkable and interesting pipe, of hard black stone, and was found in Ohio.

“In sending you the information concerning specimens, there is one point that I overlooked, and that is the difference between the carapace and the plastron of the turtle pipe. It is an interesting fact that the carapace of this specimen is that of a terrapin, while the plastron is carved after the fashion of the snapping turtle.”

Fig. 497. (S. 1–1.) Portrait pipe. Collection of G. A. West, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This figure was dug from a grave at East Jacksonport, Door County, Wisconsin, over which was an old pine stump 30 inches in diameter, by Mr. L. K. Erkskin, from whom it was secured by Mr. W. H. Elkey, for Mr. G. A. West. This pipe is of compact flinty limestone and most skillfully carved into a resemblance of the head and face of a frowning Indian. Both bowl and stem excavations are conical in shape, and were evidently made with stone drills.

I have referred in a number of places to smoking as a ceremony. In addition to being a rite, it was always practiced for medicinal purposes. Not only did the Indians in ancient times inhale fumes in order to alleviate distress, but the white people did likewise. Mr. McGuire, in his work which I have previously quoted, makes this perfectly clear and cites numerous instances as to the supposed curative property of tobacco. I quote one of his paragraphs ^[16] concerning the truly remarkable material gathered by Mr. Bragg:—

Fig. 498. (S. 1–2.) Portrait pipe. Described by G. A. West, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This figure “is of dark sandstone, 10 inches long, with a portion of its bowl broken away. This remarkable pipe was found many years ago near Fort Atkinson, Jefferson County, Wisconsin, and is now in a private collection in the State of New Hampshire. It is a calumet but not of the Siouan type. The writer is informed that this specimen is unpolished, but has the appearance of great age, contains no metal tool-marks, and shows much use.”

Fig. 499. (S. 1–1.) Collection of Professor W. C. Mills, Columbus, Ohio.

“Bragg’s collection of pipes, now in the British Museum, made from all parts of the world, and his books relating to tobacco, the former consisting of 13,000 specimens and the latter of 500 volumes, was as rich as it was curious, and has probably never been equaled. The medicinal and imaginary properties attaching to tobacco have been marked among the American Indians to no greater extent than in Europe. Rembert Dodoens in 1578 said ‘the perfume of dryed leaves, he sayd he layde upon quick coles taken in the mouth through the pipe of a funnel or tunnel, helpeth such as are troubled with shortness of winde and fetch their breath thicke and often.’”^[17]

In 1901 Professor W. C. Mills explored the Adena Mound near Chillicothe for the Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society. One of the skeletons, aside from having arrow-heads, knives, pearl and bone beads and other relics, had near the left hand the beautiful effigy pipe shown in Fig. 499. I present front and side views of this pipe, and quote from Professor Mills’s Report as follows:—

“This pipe is eight inches in length, and is composed of clay, resembling the fire-clay found in Scioto County, which is further south but in the same valley. The pipe is tubular in form, the hole extending the entire length of the body; the large opening is between the feet, having a hole five eighths inch in diameter. Within an inch of the top of the head it begins to narrow down to a very small aperture one eighth inch in diameter. The mouthpiece formed a part of the head-dress of the image. The front part of the pipe is of a light gray in color while the back part is of a brick red. The specimen is covered with a deposit of iron ore; this appears in small blotches over the entire surface of the specimen, the one side of the face and body being more densely covered with it than the other parts of the pipe.

“The effigy represents the human form in the nude state with the exception of the covering around the loins; this covering extends round the body and is tied in the back; the ends of the covering hang down and serve as ornaments. On the front of this covering is a serpentine or scroll-like ornamentation. From the lobe of each ear is hung an ear ornament which is quite large in proportion to the ear, and resembles very much the button-shaped copper ornaments which are so frequently found in the mounds of the Scioto Valley.”

Fig. 500. (S. 1–1.)

Frog pipe, from Tennessee, and rectangular pipe, from Georgia. Both of fine sandstone. From the collection of F. P. Graves, Doe Run, Saint Francois County, Missouri.