A partially reconstructed everted-rim pottery jar excavated from Banda area site A-212, Mound 7, level 10. The jar's exterior surface is decorated below the neck with closely spaced rows of dentate (comb) impressions, intersected by a double diagonal line of dentate impressions. Double lines of dentate impression applied in a chevron pattern form a band between the upper zone of dentate decoration and jar's plain base. The jar's interior is finished with an orange-red slip. An INAA sample ("A212-16") from this jar and was assigned to the "G1" group of ceramic fabrics and therefore likely made west of the Banda hills. Rim diameter 24 cm at exterior lip. Photo scale in cm. Site A-212. 1 February, 2001.
A short-stemmed, locally made clay smoking pipe, 4 views (1: front; 2: side view, pipe bowl on left; 3: stem end; 4: top, looking into pipe bowl). 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 straight-sided cylindrical bowl has a flat, circular base with traces of red pigment. The bowl's rim has broken away. The stem joins the bowl above the base (referred to as a "double-angled" form). The stem flares slightly outward toward its rim. The stem's lip shows traces of red paint. The pipe's surface is unevenly blackened. The bowl is decorated with incised lines. Two horizontal lines bound a zone of repeated "X" incisions marked by traces of red pigment. Photo scale in cm. Site A212. 18 February, 2001.