the adena and their tubular pipes by D.R. Gehlbach Columbus, Ohio

One of the most perplexing matters in to build the . They are not associ- examples were usually made of trying to identify prehistoric artifacts is the ated with other objects or features found in sandstone or various hardstone materials. lack of available information about the cir- the . Pictured in Figures 2, 3 and 4 are three cumstances of their discovery. This situa- The lower Midwest (Figure 1) served as tubular pipes from Ohio although their tion has been exacerbated in Ohio where the backdrop for the populations of Adena reported recovery locations are widely many of the state’s mounds were exam- Indians, geographically providing a series of separated. Figure 2 – 4" in length is mod- ined and artifacts extracted before careful readily available connected waterways for eled out of gray/brown Ohio pipestone. Its record keeping was introduced. Incomplete travel. Their mounds were primarily located dimensions are mostly uniform throughout records (field notes) prepared by research- near major rivers such as the Ohio, Kanawha, excepting the typical offset drilled smoking ers sometimes failed to indicate the asso- Scioto, Miami, Whitewater and Licking and cavity. This specimen conforms in propor- ciations of important artifacts in excavated along a series of regional feeder creeks. tions to many examples, also its crafting mounds. Some of the hand written records From about 600BC to 100AD the humped material and dimensions. The opening at of excavations were much abbreviated and mounds, some of considerable proportions, the stem end is only about 1/16 of an inch hard to decipher, therefore of limited help. served as the cemeteries for a limited num- in diameter. It was found in Scioto County, The writer in his long-term study of Ohio’s ber of individuals. There is an information Ohio. Figures 3 and 4 show two much more prehistoric pipes has been disappointed void about the Adena involving the location sizable examples with slightly different by inadequate reference materials about of their habitations. Where they lived and the configurations. Both are products of Ohio the occurrence and proposed applications proximity of their homes to their mounds are pipestone probably obtained from a heavily for the tubular pipes of the Adena Indians. largely unresolved matters. sourced hilltop quarry in Scioto County. On As a result there remains the largely unan- It is believed Adena tubular pipes likely the left is the largest specimen, almost 7" in swered question about whether some of evolved from earlier Archaic Period tubu- length. As can be seen in Figure 3 the orange the impressive looking tubes were actually lar pipes. Beginning in the middle to late and brown specimen has been exposed to smoking devices or instead used in a differ- Archaic Period, from about 2000BC to a fire. The original gray pipestone material ent manner. And if used as smoking instru- 800BC, existing populations of Archaic has been altered producing its current col- ments why don’t most show the residues Indians began crafting circular tubular oration. In several spots the excessive heat from charred tobacco and/or other smoking pipes out of various hardstone materials. has cracked the surface material. The pipe’s materials? Were the pipes instead employed Archaic tubular pipes were sculpted and surface also shows black smudging and in largely as talismans, devotional items, sym- bored beginning at the larger bowl end. places a calcium deposit. Calcification con- bolic funerary gifts or perhaps even primi- Their bulbous cigar-shaped pipes provided tinues inside the drilled cavity. The pipe’s tive medical instruments (aspirating tools for adequate protection for mostly sizable largest diameter is at the stem end with a diseases and other maladies)? smoking cavities that gradually deceased gradual taper to the bowl end. Its largest Don Dragoo, perhaps the single most in diameter to the stem end. The Adena diameter is about 1-1/2 inches. It has a slight influential compiler of the Early Woodland people adopted the basic tubular configu- lip at the stem end. Found in Meigs County, Period Adena materials, also wrestled with ration and added a new blocked end fea- Ohio it ranks as one of the larger pipes of its the issue of possible uses for the unique ture at the stem end. This consisted of a type from the state. Of note the subject pipe blocked end pipes, particularly when they pencil-thin cavity bored in from the stem closely resembles in form other Adena tubu- were found as burial accompaniments. In end joining a much larger cavity excavated lar pipes found in western and his important treatise on the Adena, titled from the opposite end. Later they added at some non- sites on the east coast. Mounds For The Dead, Dragoo stated, “The unique flared and constricted motifs at the The pipe on the right is another large exam- reasons for and the significance of placing stem end and even an angled stem aper- ple almost 6" long. It has mostly uniform (Adena) pipes with burials present an inter- ture off the tube. dimensions over its length. This tube was esting problem. Usually a single pipe was Mostly straight tubular pipes with the modeled from gray/brown Ohio pipestone. placed with an (Adena) burial where it would blocked end feature, the primary subject Notable features include a slight lip at the seem that the pipe was the property of the of this article, were used throughout the stem end and probable red ocher depos- deceased. In one mound, (Beech Bot- Adena era, from about 600BC to 100AD. its inside the pipe’s smoking chamber. The tom in ), however, there were The evolution of the several Adena tubular latter evidence may provide a clue on its more than 32 pipes that apparently were all pipe forms is a somewhat confusing issue one-time use as a symbolic “blood letting” presented as an offering to one individual. when identifying the time periods when device during rituals. Slight discoloration of Why? Was this man a pipe maker? Was this they were used. It appears the Adena tubu- the raw material near the stem end suggests a way of paying tribute to a revered indi- lar pipe style modifications, mostly at the it was also used as some type of smoking vidual in which the men of the clan gave up stem end, were adopted based on regional device in conjunction with the rituals. It was their prized pipes? Was the pipe of special preferences. The flared mouthpiece forms represented as coming from Mercer County, significance in their ceremonies? If so, why were found mostly in central and south- Ohio. Figure 4 is a profile view of the same were pipes placed with some persons and ern Ohio while slightly tapered examples, two pipes. not with others? Did only certain individuals copying the earlier Archaic forms, were The unique tubular pipes of the Adena have the rights to a pipe? These and many more common at some Indiana mound Indians represent a distinctive development other questions goad the archaeologist, sites. Preferred raw materials also varied of alleged smoking materials during the first but unfortunately, all too often the available regionally with Ohio pipestone most often mound building period in North America. information is insufficient to warrant posi- used at Adena sites in eastern, central Any definitive understanding of their specific tive answers. Adding to the mystery is the and southern Ohio, western Pennsylvania use or uses as special purpose instruments fact that although most Adena pipes are and northern West Virginia. The - will be based further research and resulting burial accompaniments in mounds others based Adena people used limestone for interpretive studies. Suffice it to say due to were apparently included in the fill dirt used their more diminutive tubular pipes while their rarity and intrinsic value the subject

Ohio Archaeologist 16 Vol. 61, No. 2, Spring 2011 17 pipes had restricted or ceremonial appli- preserved and reworked into smaller forms Reference cations. Most would have been prized for after being damaged. Pipes were likely both Dragoo, Don W. their craftsmanship and visual attributes and functional and/or symbolic religious utensils 1963 Mounds For The Dead: An Analysis Of probably were possessed by only impor- and used mainly during rituals. They also The Adena Culture, Annals Of Carnegie tant individuals. Their apparent value can may have served as curative devices used Museum, Vol. 37, Pittsburgh Pa. be further validated by examples that were to help expunge medical problems.

Figure 1 (Dragoo) Distribution of Adena sites.

Figure 2 (Gehlbach) Typical blocked end Figures 3 & 4 (Gehlbach) Two views of large blocked end tubular pipes, pipestone, Meigs County, Adena tubular pipe, pipestone, Scioto Ohio and Mercer County, Ohio. County, Ohio.

16 Ohio Archaeologist 17 Vol. 61, No. 2, Spring 2011