WELCOME MOUND — SETZLEK 457 



artistic talent beyond that of an ordinary member of a society. To 

 what extent the making of pipes indicates specialized professions, 

 however, is difficult to determine. 



The duck effigy pipe from Welcome Mound appears to be related 

 in some way to the person buried beside it and to a mortuary cus- 

 tom of the Adena people. Moreover, it may indicate some religious 

 significance associated with a shoveler duck. The same reverence 

 postulated here for the shoveler duck may be applied to the wolf and 

 unidentified aquatic-bird effigy pipes from Saylor Mound. 



The human effigy pipe from Adena Mound could well represent a 

 particular individual. A person possessing the physical and patho- 

 logical characteristics apparent in the effigy was likely regarded as 

 unique and thereby deified; actual dwarf skeletons have been recov- 

 ered in Adena mounds. 



Among numerous primitive people, the smoking of tobacco or some 

 herb was regarded as sacred or an important part of a ceremonial 

 function. As we know from early European contacts with North 

 American Indians, the smoking of a peace pipe attended all important 

 political as well as religious or ceremonial functions. Possibly these 

 effigy pipes and the more common plain pipe (plate 4) found in the 

 mounds of the Adena represent the origin of such a ceremony. Our 

 only evidence rests with similar forms used by historic Indians and 

 reported by early Spanish, French, and English explorers and 

 missionaries. 



Several monographs have been published on this topic, e.g., G. A. 

 West (1934) and H. C. Shetrone (1941). These men not only illus- 

 trate various other kinds of pipes, but quote from hundreds of sources 

 describing the variety of uses that were made of the many forms of 

 Nicotiana. When we consider the impact that tobacco had upon the 

 countries of the world after 1492, it is understandable that the prob- 

 able original users of this herb buried pipes — especially such well 

 carved pipes — as offerings to their dead. 



Summary 



The burial methods, the type of pottery and restored vessel, the 

 date from Carbon-14 tests, the effigy pipe, and the association of 

 an animal tooth in the mouth cavity are sufficient evidence to estab- 

 lish Welcome Mound as an Adena burial site. The wearing of an 

 animal mask indicates that such a person could have served as a 

 shaman and as such would justify the building of Welcome Mound. 

 The effigy pipes indicate a possible religious association between the 

 prehistoric Adena and aquatic birds, animals, and dwarfs, while the 

 artistry shows an advance over the common straight tubes of the 

 earlier, archaic people and those of the Adena. 



