Otter effigy pipe photograph   Save
William D. Tremper Collection http://www.ohiohistory.org/etcetera/exhibits/ohiopix/index.cfm
Description: This pipe in effigy (a likeness or representation) of an otter was excavated from Tremper Mound, a Hopewell culture site located five miles north of Portsmouth in Scioto County. The animal is shown standing with a fish in its mouth. The tail extends behind onto the platform. The details of the otter's face are shown with incised lines; some details of the fish's head are evident. Portions of the left side of the effigy are restored, as well as parts of the bowl below the effigy and a section of the platform including the tail. The effigy pipe measures approximately 1.5" x 3.5" x 1.25" (3.81 x 8.89 x 3.18 cm). This pipe is part of a large collection of pipes found at Tremper Mound. The pipes were carved of Ohio pipestone, a silica-based material that can be easily carved when freshly quarried from the hills east of the Scioto River. The pipes represent a variety of animals significant to the Hopewell, including owls, wolves, deer and beaver. Skilled Hopewell craftsmen carved the pipes with flint knives and some are embellished with pearls or copper. In Ohio, the Hopewell Indians (100 B.C.-A.D. 500) built burial mounds and large earthen enclosures in geometric shapes (circles, squares, and octagons) to mark the places where the people gathered periodically to participate in many social and ceremonial events. Some of these sites were quite large--the Newark Earthworks complex extends over a 4-square-mile area. The Hopewell people also maintained a large trade network extending as far as the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, the Florida coast and Appalachians, and northern Lake Superior. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1357_1136252_050
Subjects: American Indians in Ohio; Plants and Animals; Arts and Entertainment; Geography and Natural Resources; Hopewell culture; Mounds (Burials); Pipes (Smoking); Otters
Places: Rush Township (Ohio); Scioto County (Ohio)