Clay pipe dating

Last updated

Clay pipe dating is the act of dating clay tobacco pipes found at archaeological sites to specific time periods.

Contents

Pipe bowl found in Kent, southeast England. The circular hole through the tube is slightly off-centre and measures 3.36mm in diameter, and would suggest a rough date of c.1610 AD. Clay pipe bowl (FindID 503683).jpg
Pipe bowl found in Kent, southeast England. The circular hole through the tube is slightly off-centre and measures 3.36mm in diameter, and would suggest a rough date of c.1610 AD.

Clay pipes are a useful archaeological dating tool because, during the historical period when they were in use, they were a common and breakable item and therefore they are frequently found at archeological sites. [1] In addition, variations in their features make them highly dateable objects. [2]

Originally clay pipes were dated by their morphology, through examination of the pipe's bowl and the maker's mark. [3] The first comprehensive studies were detailed by Adrian Oswald in 1951. In 1954, archaeologist J. C. Harrington developed a method of dating pipe stems to specific time periods. This method was later developed upon by Lewis Binford, Lee Hanson Jr. and Robert Heighton and Kathleen A. Deagan.

Origins of clay pipe dating

Originally, clay pipes were dated through the examination of the bowl of the pipe rather than the stem. In 1951, Adrian Oswald published a study of English clay tobacco types, upon which all successive studies were based upon. [4] Oswald showed how, over time, the bowls of pipes increased, as did the angle at which the bowl was attached to the stem of the pipe. [5] In a later study, Oswald created a variety of comprehensive drawings on bowl shapes of English pipes throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, using the dates of the archaeological sites the bowls were found at in order to date them.

Bowls were also dated using the maker's marks which provide a relatively accurate date. Oswald created a detailed list of pipe makers, their marks and the dates in which they were creating pipes across the United Kingdom. The location of maker's marks can also help contribute to dating efforts. The typical placement of marks changed over the 17th century from the bottom of the bowl to the spur and the heel. [6] In the 18th century, marks were additionally placed on the back of the bowl. [7] These changes all allowed for dating of pipes prior to the invention of dating formulas, and can still be used instead of the formulaic methods popularised today.

Harrington's time periods

Three clay pipe bowls from Kent, dating to the mid 18th century, with maker's marks on the foot. The use of a maker's mark, shape of the bowl, size of foot and angle of connection with the stem suggest a c.1740-1760 AD date. Pipe 3, Post Medieval clay pipe with makers mark (FindID 260094).jpg
Three clay pipe bowls from Kent, dating to the mid 18th century, with maker's marks on the foot. The use of a maker's mark, shape of the bowl, size of foot and angle of connection with the stem suggest a c.1740-1760 AD date.

Clay pipe stems were first used as a dating tool beginning in 1954, when archaeologist J.C Harrington realised that the imported English white clay tobacco pipe stem fragments found in archaeological sites across Virginia changed over time, following a general trend wherein the bore diameter of the stem over the course of the 17th to the 18th century.

This led Harrington to identify five time periods between the years 1620-1800 to which pipes could be dated based upon the decrease in the bore diameter of the clay pipe stem. [3] Harrington only used English pipe stems and noted that the accuracy of this dating method was only accurate for pipes created before 1800. He also stated that ten or more fragments within a sample size would be needed to use this method. Despite these stipulations, three formulaic methods of dating were developed based on Harrington's time periods: Binford's linear formula, Hanson's formulas and the Heighton and Deagan Formula. [4]

Binford's linear formula

Binford's linear formula was developed by Lewis Binford in 1962. [8] It enables the calculation of the date of a clay pipe sample from the diameter of its stem. [8] [4]

This equation is only effective on samples up to the year of 1780 when white clay pipes began being manufactured in America, and imitated earlier styles. Other requirements for its effectiveness are that the samples must be random, representative of the site and that the sites the samples are from must have a constant rate of deposition. [4] [8]

This method is the most commonly used for clay pipe dating.

Hanson's regression formulas

In 1968, archaeologist Lee Hanson Jr. created a series of regression formulas based on the averages of each of Harrington's time periods and Binford's dates. This allowed entire archeological sites to be dated based on clay pipe stem fragments found at the site. [4]

Each of Hanson's formulas has a time range, with researchers having to choose a time bracket (e.g. 1650-1710) based on their hypothesis of the dates of the site. [4] Like Binford's linear formula, they rely on using the bore diameter of the pipe stem to find the mean date of the data sample. [9]

Heighton and Deagan's formula

Robert Heighton and Kathleen Deagan introduced a third method for dating pipe stems in 1971. This was developed by measuring 26 stems from 14 different sites dated from 1635 to 1775 and producing a two-step formula based on the mean date of these results. [4] [10] This added methodological sophistication by using a logarithmic formula in the first step and a point of origin formula in the second. [4] [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tobacco pipe</span> Tool specifically made to smoke tobacco or other products

A tobacco pipe, often called simply a pipe, is a device specifically made to smoke tobacco. It comprises a chamber for the tobacco from which a thin hollow stem (shank) emerges, ending in a mouthpiece. Pipes can range from very simple machine-made briar models to highly prized hand-made artisanal implements made by renowned pipemakers, which are often very expensive collector's items. Pipe smoking is the oldest known traditional form of tobacco smoking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bong</span> Device used for smoking tobacco, cannabis, or other herbal drugs

A bong is a filtration device generally used for smoking cannabis, tobacco, or other herbal substances. In the bong shown in the photo, the smoke flows from the lower port on the left to the upper port on the right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Churchwarden pipe</span> Style of tobacco pipe

A churchwarden pipe is a tobacco pipe with a long stem. The history of the pipe style is traced to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century. Some churchwarden pipes can be as long as 16 inches (40 cm). In German the style is referred to as "Lesepfeife" or "reading pipe", presumably because the longer stem allowed an unimpeded view of one's book, and smoke does not form near the reader's eyes, allowing one to look down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serpent Mound</span> Prehistoric effigy mound in Ohio, United States

The Great Serpent Mound is a 1,348-feet-long (411 m), three-feet-high prehistoric effigy mound located in Peebles, Ohio. It was built on what is known as the Serpent Mound crater plateau, running along the Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County, Ohio. The mound is the largest serpent effigy known in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catlinite</span> Metamorphosed mudstone, usually brownish red in colour

Catlinite, also called pipestone, is a type of argillite, usually brownish-red in color, which occurs in a matrix of Sioux Quartzite. Because it is fine-grained and easily worked, it is prized by Native Americans, primarily those of the Plains nations, for use in making ceremonial pipes, known as chanunpas or čhaŋnúŋpas in the Lakota language. Pipestone quarries are located and preserved in Pipestone National Monument outside Pipestone, Minnesota, in Pipestone County, Minnesota, and at the Pipestone River in Ontario, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meerschaum pipe</span> Smoking pipe made from the mineral sepiolite

A meerschaum pipe is a smoking pipe made from the mineral sepiolite, also known as meerschaum. Meerschaum is sometimes found floating on the Black Sea and is rather suggestive of sea foam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pipe smoking</span> Tasting or inhaling smoke from a pipe

Pipe smoking is the practice of tasting the smoke produced by burning a substance, most commonly tobacco and cannabis, in a pipe. It is the oldest traditional form of smoking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis smoking</span> Inhalation of marijuana fumes

Cannabis smoking is the inhalation of smoke or vapor released by heating the flowers, leaves, or extracts of cannabis and releasing the main psychoactive chemical, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is absorbed into the bloodstream via the lungs. Archaeological evidence indicates cannabis with high levels of THC was being smoked at least 2,500 years ago. As of 2021, cannabis is the most commonly consumed federally illegal drug in the United States, with 36.4 million people consuming it monthly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowl (smoking)</span> Part of smoking pipe

A bowl, when referred to in pipe smoking, is the part of a smoking pipe or bong that is used to hold tobacco, cannabis, or other substances.

Post-excavation analysis constitutes processes that are used to study archaeological materials after an excavation is completed. Since the advent of "New Archaeology" in the 1960s, the use of scientific techniques in archaeology has grown in importance. This trend is directly reflected in the increasing application of the scientific method to post-excavation analysis. The first step in post-excavation analysis should be to determine what one is trying to find out and what techniques can be used to provide answers. Techniques chosen will ultimately depend on what type of artifact(s) one wishes to study. This article outlines processes for analyzing different artifact classes and describes popular techniques used to analyze each class of artifact. Keep in mind that archaeologists frequently alter or add techniques in the process of analysis as observations can alter original research questions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smoking pipe</span> Device used for smoking

A smoking pipe is used to taste the smoke of a burning substance; most common is a tobacco pipe. Pipes are commonly made from briar, heather, corn, meerschaum, clay, cherry, glass, porcelain, ebonite and acrylic.

Chesapeake pipes, which are also known as colono-pipes, terra-cotta pipes, local pipes, Virginia-made pipes and aboriginal pipes, refer to a type of tobacco pipe that was produced in the Chesapeake Bay region of eastern North America during the 17th century. Made out of local clays, the pipes had a distinctive orange or brown color, with many being decorated with abstract designs and motifs. Such pipes are so common that they have been described as being "ubiquitous in [the] archaeological sites of Virginia and Maryland".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceremonial pipe</span> Ceremonial smoking pipe, used by Native Americans

A ceremonial pipe is a particular type of smoking pipe, used by a number of cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas in their sacred ceremonies. Traditionally they are used to offer prayers in a religious ceremony, to make a ceremonial commitment, or to seal a covenant or treaty. The pipe ceremony may be a component of a larger ceremony, or held as a sacred ceremony in and of itself. Indigenous peoples of the Americas who use ceremonial pipes have names for them in each culture's Indigenous language. Not all cultures have pipe traditions, and there is no single word for all ceremonial pipes across the hundreds of diverse Native American languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potomac Creek, 44ST2</span> Archaeological site in Virginia, United States

Potomac Creek, or 44ST2, is a late Native American village located on the Potomac River in Stafford County, Virginia. It is from the Woodland Period and dates from 1300 to 1550. There is another Potomac Creek site, 44ST1 or Indian Point, which was occupied by the Patawomeck during the historic period and is where Captain John Smith visited. This site no longer exists, as it eroded away into the river. Site 44ST2 has five ossuaries, one individual burial, and one multiple burial. Other names for the site are Potowemeke and Patawomeke. The defining features include distinctive ceramics, ossuary burials, and palisade villages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amsterdam Pipe Museum</span> Cultural history museum in KH Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Amsterdam Pipe Museum is a museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, dedicated to smoking pipes, tobacco, and related paraphernalia. It holds the national reference collection in these areas.

Chronological dating, or simply dating, is the process of attributing to an object or event a date in the past, allowing such object or event to be located in a previously established chronology. This usually requires what is commonly known as a "dating method". Several dating methods exist, depending on different criteria and techniques, and some very well known examples of disciplines using such techniques are, for example, history, archaeology, geology, paleontology, astronomy and even forensic science, since in the latter it is sometimes necessary to investigate the moment in the past during which the death of a cadaver occurred. These methods are typically identified as absolute, which involves a specified date or date range, or relative, which refers to dating which places artifacts or events on a timeline relative to other events and/or artifacts. Other markers can help place an artifact or event in a chronology, such as nearby writings and stratigraphic markers.

Jean Carl Harrington was an American archaeologist best known for his work at Jamestown, Virginia and his contributions to the methodology of historical archaeology. He has been called the "father of historical archaeology in America".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White pipe clay</span>

White pipe clay is a white-firing clay of the sort that is used to make tobacco smoking pipes, which tended to be treated as disposable objects. This suited pipeclay, which is not very strong.

Eduard Bird was an English tobacco pipe maker who spent most of his life in Amsterdam. His life has been reconstructed by analysis of public registers, probate records, and notary and police records, by historians such as Don Duco and Margriet De Roever from the 1970s onwards. Pipes with the "EB" stamp have been found around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upper Iowa River Oneota site complex</span> Archaeological site complex in Iowa, United States

The Upper Iowa River Oneota site complex is a series of 7 Iowa archaeological sites located within a few miles of each other in Allamakee County, Iowa, on or near the Upper Iowa River. They are all affiliated with the Late Prehistoric Upper Mississippian Oneota Orr focus. In some cases there are early European trade goods present, indicating occupation continued into the Protohistoric or early Historic period.

References

  1. Campbell-Green, Tim (2020-07-26). "Clay Pipes". The Glossop Cabinet of Curiosities. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  2. "Amsterdam Pipe Museum - Article The dating of pipe finds across Europe, a preliminaryguideline". pipemuseum.nl. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
  3. 1 2 Harrington, J. C. (2019-07-18), "Dating Stem Fragments of Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Clay Tobacco Pipes*", Historical Archaeology: A Guide to Substantive and Theoretical Contributions, Routledge, pp. 63–65, doi:10.4324/9781315224404-18, ISBN   978-1-315-22440-4, S2CID   214161822 , retrieved 2023-05-07
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 McMillan, L.K., 2010. Put this in your pipe and smoke it: An evaluation of tobacco pipe stem dating methods. East Carolina University.
  5. Oswald, A. (1951). "English clay tobacco pipes". Archaeological News Letter. 3 (10): 153–159.
  6. "The National Pipe Archive: How to date". www.pipearchive.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  7. Hume, I.N., 1969. Pottery and porcelain in colonial Williamsburg's archaeological collections (No. 2). Colonial Williamsburg.
  8. 1 2 3 Binford, L.R. (1962). "A New Method of Calculating Dates from Kaolin Pipe Stem Samples". Southeastern Archaeological Conference Newsletter. 9 (1): 19–21.
  9. Hanson, Lee Jr. 1969 Kaolin Pipestems—Boring in on a fallacy. Conference on Historic Site Archaeology Papers, p.5
  10. 1 2 Heighton, R F., and Deagan, K.A, 1971 A New Formula for Dating Kaolin Clay Pipestems. The Conference on Historic Site Archaeology Papers.