Pipe

Pipe, loop style
Modeled short-stemmed loop pipe, shell-tempered pottery
Caddo (historic), 1350-1500
Henry Means II site (3HS104)
Hodges 77-1 / 9-13

3D printed copy of a Caddo clay pipe with cane stem
This Caddo pipe is made of pottery, formed from clay that was tempered with crushed mussel shells and then fired. Pipes were used to smoke tobacco, a domesticated crop grown by the Caddo and other Native American people. Tobacco seeds are very small and are rarely detected on archeological sites. However, pipes have been found on sites in this area dating as early as 2,000 years ago.

In the initial contacts between the Caddo and the Spanish and French in the late 1600s, ceremonial pipes (calumet in French, tankuh in Caddo) were passed from hand to hand in greeting rituals. Caddo also gifted pipes to people at first meetings, and smoked them during harvest feast celebrations.

Using the 3D model, a reconstruction of this pipe was printed from plastic and fitted with a cane stem. Visit the Survey website for more information about 3D printing at the Arkansas Archeological Survey. You can also learn more about the history of the Caddo Nation.

3D model created by Teka McGlothlin and Sarah Shepard, text and photograph by Christine Bostian and Mary Beth Trubitt.