Thesis
Pipes and smoking in precontact Pacific Northwest societies
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2018
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/100161
Abstract
Smoking has been practiced by native peoples throughout the Pacific Northwest for several millennia. This is evinced by the presence of stone pipes and pipe fragments in sites across the region--in particular, along the Columbia and Fraser River systems. This thesis summarizes the spatial and chronological distribution of archaeological smoking pipes throughout the inland Pacific Northwest based on literature and database searches, with a particular focus on those collections held or formerly held by the Washington State University Museum of Anthropology. In addition, the results of chemical residue analyses considering the material smoked in a number of pipes and pipe fragments from sites spanning the region will be reviewed. The results of the residue testing of twelve previously unanalyzed pipes is also presented. A significant finding from these new analyses is the identification of nicotine, a biomarker of tobacco species (Nicotiana spp.), in a single complete pipe from a site in Grant County, Washington. Associated with a radiocarbon date of 1334 - 1524 cal BP, this is the northernmost evidence and earliest radiocarbon dated evidence of tobacco use in the Pacific Northwest. The metabolomic analysis of the compounds extracted from various archaeological pipes suggests a previously unknown antiquity for the cultivation and use of Nicotiana quadrivalvis, a tobacco species whose natural range does not extend to the region studied. This study is part of a larger research program developed in collaboration with indigenous communities in the United States and Canada, and sheds light on the practice of smoking as well as the traditional use and management of smoke plants throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Metrics
45 File views/ downloads
122 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Pipes and smoking in precontact Pacific Northwest societies
- Creators
- William Joel Damitio
- Contributors
- Shannon Tushingham (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; [Pullman, Washington] :
- Identifiers
- 99900525192701842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis