Undrilled Bird Effigy Pipes: Intentional?

by Steven R. Cooper, EIC

January 2011 Central States Archaeological Journal

Recently I passed by a collector’s table at a show. Resting on it was a very fine pipe. I asked if I could pick it up, and he handed it to me. Carefully I looked it over. The pipe (Figure 1) was an effigy portraying a flying bird, possibly an eagle. It was made of highly polished green steatite. The collector told me it was found in 1965 by his father, R.D. Ewton, in a plowed field in Roane County, Tennessee. It has extensive plow damage. While the bowl is finished, the pipe remains undrilled and could not be smoked. I asked if I could take some pictures, thanked him and moved on to enjoy the show.

When I returned home I recalled another similar pipe (Figure 2) featured in a Journal article years ago. This smaller (4 ½ inches long), but very similar pipe was found on a Mississippian site on the Harpeth River in Davidson County, Tennessee. This find was reported and pictured in the CSAJ (Volume 17, #3, 134–135) in 1971. What surprised me was this pipe too was undrilled in exactly the same way as the other pipe! Coincidence?

I then looked at the bible of pipes, the huge two volume  Tobacco Pipes and Smoking Customs of the American Indians  by George West to see some further examples. I was surprised when I discovered just one example (Figure 3), and it too, was unfinished. Why make such a fine pipe which required hours of effort and then not finish it? Perhaps they were utilized for some other purpose rather than smoking? I am sure there is a reason, but it is lost in time.

References:
West, George A.
1934  Tobacco, Pipes, and Smoking Customs of the American Indians  Reprinted by Hart Publishers 2001

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