pipe

Stone or ceramic holder for use in smoking tobacco. The main elements are the bowl and a connecting tube through which smoke can be drawn into the mouth. Pipes first appear in the archaeological record on Archaic Stage sites in Illinois, North America, from around 1500 bc onwards. They become common in the eastern woodlands by 500 bc. It is possible that organic pipes were used before this time, but tobacco is a native plant of South America and so must have been taken northwards in the same way as other crops. Some stone pipes, for example those made by Middle and Late Woodland communities, were extremely elaborate in their design and decoration.