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Adena-Hopewell Culture Human Effigy Pipe reproduction

Human Effigy Pipe

Adena-Hopewell Culture

This is a wonderful reproduction of a human effigy pipe found in the Adena Mound, near Chillicothe, OH. Made of bicolored pipestone, it takes the form of a standing male—perhaps an ancestor, mythical hero, or shaman—bedecked in insignia of high rank: large spool-shaped ear ornaments, a loincloth with a feather bustle at the back, and a bifurcated hairdo. Tobacco, used by natives today and in the past to petition other-than-human forces, was burned in a bowl between the figure’s feet; the smoke traveled through a tube within the body to the mouthpiece, a small hole on top of the head. Originally attributed to the Adena culture (800 BC‒AD 1), the pipe instead may be the work of a gifted sculptor of the related, somewhat later Hopewell culture (200 BC‒AD 400), famed for its geometric earthworks. In 2013, the pipe was designated Ohio’s official state artifact. The pipe is 7 7/8 inches tall x 2 5/8 inches wide x 2 inches thick.