Pipe with snake carved on bowl

Art T. Fact · Oct 1, 2015

A friend found this pipe in some rocks and sand at the back end of a culvert in Letcher County, KY, and was wondering if it could be of Native American origin. Any help will be appreciated.

NCPeaches · Oct 1, 2015

Welcome to the site! Don't know if it's native american but it's awesome! Questions will be have you found any other artifacts in that area. I've read about the Catawba's that the black snake was their symbol of strength and would tattoo them on the backs of warriors and they also made snake pots so it could be, but I'm not an authority and not sure if that nation lived in your area.

Trooper733 · Oct 1, 2015

That is a neat piece. Here is a link to a map of traditional Indian tribal boundaries that I found that I use when questions like that come up. It shows to be published by the Smithsonian in 1967. jpeg file was too large to load it onto the post so here is the URL for it.

http://thomaslegion.net/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/indian_tribes.jpg

Haywood · Oct 1, 2015

Thanks for the cool map Trooper. I'm not an expert in Indian artifacts or smokin' weed but I've dabbled in both. The size of the pipe and the cartoonish snake makes me think it originated in a head shop. It looks made to fit in your pocket and sit upright on a table. The round circles were obviously made by a near perfect round tool(metal) pressed into the clay. I could be wrong though. Scrape out the resin, put a flame to it, inhale, and see what happens. That should tell you somethin'.

monsterrack · Oct 1, 2015

I may be wrong because I'm just looking at a photo, but it looks like a reproduction piece. Thanks for posting and Welcome to Tnet. :hello:

Glenn C · Oct 2, 2015

I have found pottery with circles like that pressed into them like the pipe. Interesting

creekhunter · Oct 2, 2015

I believe they used a reed to make the circles, but I don't think this pipe is ancient either, yeah give it a good sniff!

Haywood · Oct 2, 2015

I found a supposedly Native American pipe with similar features as your's on the internet.

Ancient Native American Clay Pipes

It says "Early 20th Century Pipes > believed to be Choctaw in origin." so maybe it wasn't made by a hippy.

The Grim Reaper · Oct 2, 2015

I'd be willing to bet it's someones Pot Pipe they lost while walking in the hollow. Doesn't look old or Native American to me.

NCPeaches · Oct 2, 2015

Glenn C said:
I have found pottery with circles like that pressed into them like the pipe. Interesting

That's curious...thinking I will do some searches on it and see what I can come up with.

GatorBoy · Oct 3, 2015

unclemac · Oct 3, 2015

Art T. Fact said:
A friend found this pipe in some rocks and sand at the back end of a culvert in Letcher County, KY, and was wondering if it could be of Native American origin. Any help will be appreciated.

the way you describe the context and place it was found at make me think someone stashed their dope pipe for later use or to hide it quick. It is a cool find but truly doesn't have a native American look to it. Can you tell if it has been used?...If it has any really obvious residue or smell to it it is most definitely modern.

Art T. Fact · Oct 3, 2015

As a newcomer to this site and artifact hunting, I'd like to thank all those who have looked at and all those who have responded to my post in a thoughtful and informative manner. I posted these pictures of the pipe my friend found about seven years ago as a favor to her in case someone here had found something similarly crafted by a Native American. Previously she had been told by someone in the Archaeology Dept. at the University of Tennessee that it might have been carved by an African American before the Civil War because some African American pottery and walking canes contain similar snake motifs.
Today she informed me the culvert she found the pipe in drains a hollow that has a few old home sites but nobody has lived there for at least 30 years. That's all the info I have about the pipe's location and thanks again for the views and also the link to the Indian Map, the pottery pic with circles, the info on how the circles were made and the pic of the Choctaw pipe.

NCPeaches · Oct 3, 2015

Art T. Fact said:
As a newcomer to this site and artifact hunting, I'd like to thank all those who have looked at and all those who have responded to my post in a thoughtful and informative manner. I posted these pictures of the pipe my friend found about seven years ago as a favor to her in case someone here had found something similarly crafted by a Native American. Previously she had been told by someone in the Archaeology Dept. at the University of Tennessee that it might have been carved by an African American before the Civil War because some African American pottery and walking canes contain similar snake motifs.
Today she informed me the culvert she found the pipe in drains a hollow that has a few old home sites but nobody has lived there for at least 30 years. That's all the info I have about the pipe's location and thanks again for the views and also the link to the Indian Map, the pottery pic with circles, the info on how the circles were made and the pic of the Choctaw pipe.

It's a fine artifact to have and I know if it was one of my finds I would be curious too. Given the possible African American info helps with searching. I think it's very cool and if I run across anything I'll share it with you.