Fig. 461. (S. 1–1.) Turtle pipe found at Pierceton, Indiana. Front view. Collection of W. D. Matchett, Peirceton, Indiana.
“Fig. 447, found at Baldwin’s Mills, Waupaca County, the largest handled disc pipe so far found in Wisconsin, is of beautiful dark red catlinite with pink flecks. Its bowl is five inches long, terminating in a handle shaped like the blade of a hatchet, with what would be the cutting edge ornamented with three notches. The disc is 3½ inches wide and so thin that the distance through from the face of the disk to the outer side of the bowl is but three fourths of an inch. The stem hole has the characteristic curve and its interior is nicely polished. Both stem and bowl holes appear to have been started with a stone drill and enlarged with a wooden drill used in conjunction with sand. Under a glass this specimen shows innumerable scratches, but none of these appear to have been made by the use of metal tools. The same can be said of eleven handled disc pipes in the author’s collection.” Mr. West has a record of one hundred and four disc pipes found in Wisconsin.
Fig. 462. (S. 1–1.) Rear view of Fig. 461.
The fact that these disc pipes are frequently made of catlinite leads me to believe that they are not as old as other forms; yet there seems to be no evidence of their use after the advent of white man.
The pipe with the curved base and monitor pipes are closely related. These are found throughout the entire Mississippi Valley, and are especially numerous in Illinois, to West Virginia and from southern Wisconsin to southern Tennessee. Many beautiful specimens have been taken from mounds and graves, particularly from the mounds. In Figs. 449–53, I show five of these. Perhaps the most beautiful ones have been found in the mounds of the Scioto Valley, Ohio.
Fig. 463. (S. 1–3.) Group of pipes from various localities in the Mississippi Valley.
(a) Scioto County, Ohio.
(b) Ross County, Ohio.
(c) Pipe made from a whale’s tooth, Alaska.
(d) Scioto County, Ohio.
(e) Miami County, Ohio.
(f) Scioto County, Ohio.
(g) Scioto County, Ohio.
(h) Wabash Cemetery, Indiana.
(i) Hancock County, Ohio.
(j) Silver Creek, Morgantown, North Carolina.
(k) Grovetown, Georgia.
Just how this peculiar form originated, no man may know. It was the favorite among the prehistoric peoples. A few examples found in use among historic tribes are very poor imitations of the old forms, and cannot compare in workmanship and beauty of finish with such as are removed from the mounds of the Middle West and the South.
