Artwork Page for Bird Effigy Pipe Fragment

Details / Information for Bird Effigy Pipe Fragment

Bird Effigy Pipe Fragment

400 BCE–100 CE

Native North America, Adena people, Vance Mound, Newton Township, Licking County, Ohio

Medium
sandstone
Measurements
Overall: 6.6 x 2.5 x 2.5 cm (2 5/8 x 1 x 1 in.)
Weight: 54.9 g
Credit Line
Gift of Arthur George Smith 1963.272
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

The modest appearance of this small bird-effigy pipe, its head now lost, is misleading—the carving is fine and imagery, complex. The upper part takes the form of a bird’s body, the wings folded over the back. The section beneath the bird’s breast, intact but difficult to read, may depict a human torso with a pronounced navel and upraised forearms and hands, the palms facing outward. If so, one creature could be carrying or transforming into the other. The pipe was created by an artist of the ancient Adena people of southern Ohio. Smoke traveled through an interior channel to the mouthpiece, a small hole on the underside.

Bird Effigy Pipe Fragment

400 BCE–100 CE

Native North America, Adena people, Vance Mound, Newton Township, Licking County, Ohio

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