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Ceramic Pipe

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Native Americans began making ceramic objects from clay about 3000 years ago. They made cooking and storage pots, bowls, and smoking pipes. Before they used ceramic pipes, smoking pipes were carved out of steatite (soapstone), which had also been used for cooking and storage containers. Ceramic pipes were made with a range of decorative motifs from the simplest with no designs to incised geometric lines and patterns. This pipe is undecorated. Pipes were used for smoking tobacco, a special plant tended by Native American men. Tobacco was used sparingly, in ritual ceremonies for healing and religious purposes.

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