A short-stemmed, locally made clay smoking pipe, 2 views (bottom: view from side with pipe' s bowl on left; top: view from top). Pipes like this were inspired by those used by America' s First Peoples from whom Europeans learned about tobacco. Europeans introduced tobacco smoking to West Africa during the early centuries of trans-Atlantic trade. This pipe' s cylindrical bowl has a flared pedestal base which shows signs of wear/abrasion. The rim of the pipe bowl has broken away. The pipe' s stem joins the bowl above the base (a "double-angled" form). The stem flares outward toward a flattened lip. The pipe' s surface shows traces of overall red slip/paint. The pipe bowl is decorated with closely spaced rows of dentate impression. Soil adheres to the bowl' s interior which was not washed after excavation. Photo scale in cm. Site A212. 17 Feburary, 2001.
