Pipes recovered from archaeological contexts confirm that smoking has been practiced across North America for millennia. Charring and the presence of burned residues on some pipes indicate their use as smoking implements. Tobacco was the most commonly smoked herb, but other botanicals, including kinnikinnick, mullein, manzanita, bearberry, iris root, and red willow bark, were smoked, often as part of a tobacco mixture (Tushingham and Eerkens Reference Tushingham, Eerkens, Bollwerk and Tushingham2016; Tushingham et al. Reference Tushingham, Ardura, Eerkens, Palazoglu, Shahbaz and Fiehn2013).

The use of tobacco in North America is ancient (Duke et al. Reference Duke, Wohlgemuth, Adams, Armstrong-Ingram, Rice and Young2022); however, the nature of its earliest use (smoking, sniffing, ingesting) is unknown. Smoking is just one method of tobacco consumption, but it leaves the most recognizable evidence in the archaeological record in the form of smoking pipes. Yet there remains no systematic compilation of archaeological evidence for the antiquity of smoking in North America. Without such a synthesis, it remains difficult to assess how tobacco and smoking fit into broader social and plant management systems in the past.

Pipes are found throughout North America and became increasingly common within the last 2,000 years or so. Our goal in this article is to examine their earliest archaeological occurrences. In this context we consider the ancient role of pipes and tobacco use in ritual and community-building, the role of tobacco—a nonfood plant—in the development of plant management and horticultural practices, and the critical positioning of pipes and tobacco in Native commerce and diplomacy.

There are many tobacco species, but three native species predominate in western North America. Nicotiana attenuata (“coyote tobacco”) is common throughout the semiarid regions of the interior desert West from northern Mexico to southern British Columbia. N. obtusifolia (“desert tobacco”) occurs in the arid zone from southeast California to west Texas. The so-called Indian tobacco (N. quadrivalvis) has a more coastal distribution, from Baja California to Oregon, including interior valleys (Kartesz Reference Kartesz2015). Winter (ed., Reference Winter2000) refers to these native western species collectively as desert tobaccos.

N. quadrivalvis was cultivated by Native groups well beyond its natural range, including the Columbia and Fraser Plateaus, on the Northwest Coast as far north as southeast Alaska, and in the Missouri and Mississippi River basins (Pauketat et al. Reference Pauketat, Kelly, Fritz, Lopinot, Elias and Hargrave2002; Turner and Taylor Reference Turner and Taylor1972; Winter Reference Winter and Winter2000a). Hammett (Reference Hammett and Winter2000) suggests that variation within the N. quadrivalvis complex (e.g., N. q. var. multivalvis, N. q. var. bigelovii) raises questions regarding the role of native cultivators in its diversification. Rafferty (Reference Rafferty2021:149; see also Duke et al. Reference Duke, Wohlgemuth, Adams, Armstrong-Ingram, Rice and Young2022:186) notes that some N. quadrivalvis varieties “no longer self-seed and are functionally domesticated.” The cultivation and spread of these tobaccos highlight the importance of culturally significant nonfood plants in Indigenous stewardship systems and raises broader questions regarding pathways to domestication outside conventional agricultural economies.

It was earlier argued that tobacco first appeared in North America with the spread of other tropical domesticated plants within the last 4,000 years (e.g., Driver Reference Driver1969:106; Ford Reference Ford1981). This is likely the case for N. rustica, which was domesticated in South America and spread to the eastern North American woodlands as early as 4,000 years ago (Asch and Asch Reference Asch, Asch and Ford1985; Ford Reference Ford1985; Rafferty Reference Rafferty2021; Rafferty et al. Reference Rafferty, Lednev, Virkler and Chovanec2012; Tushingham and Eerkens Reference Tushingham, Eerkens, Bollwerk and Tushingham2016; Wagner Reference Wagner and Winter2000; Winter Reference Winter and Winter2000b; Winter, ed. Reference Winter2000). However, phylogenetic studies indicate that the desert tobaccos indigenous to the western United States likely migrated north from South America during the Pleistocene era or earlier (Goodspeed Reference Goodspeed1954:45–46; Olmstead Reference Olmstead2013; Tushingham and Eerkens Reference Tushingham, Eerkens, Bollwerk and Tushingham2016) and would have been present in the West when the earliest people arrived (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

The distribution of native desert tobaccos and the later introduced N. rustica (following Winter Reference Winter and Winter2000c); sites with pipes or tobacco about 3500 cal BP and older are mapped, and the location of Figure 2 map is outlined.

Figure 1 Long description

The map of North America illustrates the distribution of desert tobaccos and N. rustica. Desert tobaccos, marked as endemic, are shown in a shaded region along the western United States. N. rustica, labeled as domesticated and introduced, is indicated in a separate shaded area extending from the southern United States into the eastern regions. The map also marks specific sites of native use and cultivation with symbols: 1) Cox' Pond, 2) Big M, DJ Ranch, Conneley Caves, 3) Nightfire Island, 4) Olds Ferry, 5) Mummy Cave, 6) Hogup Cave, 7) Tecolote Point, Eakins and x) Wishbone Site. Arrows indicate the extent of native use and cultivation, spreading from the western to the eastern parts of the continent. A scale bar in miles and a north arrow are present for reference.

Winter (Reference Winter and Winter2000c:265) argued that the desert tobaccos of the American Far West were likely used by the earliest people in the Americas for healing and visioning rituals, speculating that, as they traversed the continent from north to south, “at some point (perhaps in the Great Basin, northern California, and/or the southwest) wild tobacco was encountered . . . and added to this shamanistic base.” The discovery of tobacco seeds in a hearth at the Wishbone site in Utah dating to about 12,300 years ago confirms the great antiquity of tobacco consumption in the Americas (Duke et al. Reference Duke, Wohlgemuth, Adams, Armstrong-Ingram, Rice and Young2022) and lends credence to Winter’s (Reference Winter and Winter2000d) speculation.

The Wishbone site location is now a dry playa but, when occupied, was within a deltaic marshland that existed between about 13,000 and 9,500 calibrated years before present (cal BP). The site is a small camp associated with Western Stemmed (Haskett) projectile points surrounding a hearth that produced three radiocarbon dates with a median age of around 12,270 cal BP. Charred seeds recovered from the hearth included Nicotiana seeds that most closely resemble N. attenuata (Duke et al. Reference Duke, Wohlgemuth, Adams, Armstrong-Ingram, Rice and Young2022).

Nicotiana seeds have also been reported from hearths, human coprolites, and food-cooking pits in Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho (Arkush and Arkush Reference Arkush and Arkush2020; Connolly et al. Reference Connolly, Ruiz, Deur, Chocktoot, Kennedy, Jenkins and Knowles2022; Johnson et al. Reference Johnson, Hockett and Linderholm2024; Kennedy and Smith Reference Kennedy and Smith2016; Punke et al. Reference Punke, Hamilton, Davis, Ragsdale and Olander2017; Sanford Reference Sanford1983), as well as from sites in the Plains and Eastern Woodlands (Goldstein Reference Goldstein1983; Haberman Reference Haberman1984; Pauketat et al. Reference Pauketat, Kelly, Fritz, Lopinot, Elias and Hargrave2002; Wagner Reference Wagner1987). Chemical analyses have consistently identified the presence of tobacco (Nicotiana spp.) in archaeological pipes by nicotine, its primary biomarker (Carmody et al. Reference Carmody, Kassabaum, Hunt, Prodanovich, Elliott and Russ2017, Reference Carmody, Jera Davis, Sharp, Hunt and Russ2018; Connolly et al. Reference Connolly, Zimmermann, Tushingham, Chocktoot, Gang, Berim and Stafford2025; Damitio Reference Damitio2018; Damitio et al. Reference Damitio, Tushingham, Brownstein, Matson and Gang2021; Lindsey Reference Lindsey2019; Rafferty Reference Rafferty2006; Tushingham and Eerkens Reference Tushingham, Eerkens, Bollwerk and Tushingham2016; Tushingham et al. Reference Tushingham, Ardura, Eerkens, Palazoglu, Shahbaz and Fiehn2013, Reference Tushingham, Snyder, Brownstein, Damitio and Gang2018). Nicotiana plant parts have been identified in quids from Arizona (Adams et al. Reference Adams, Johnson and Murphy2015; Jones and Morris Reference Jones and Morris1960). Identified tobacco botanicals primarily date to the late Holocene (<4200 cal BP), except for the Wishbone site in Utah and possibly Dirty Shame Rockshelter in Oregon. Originally reported dates from the latter site associated with Cultural Zones III or IV, where the earliest tobacco seeds were recovered, range from about 6600 to 7300 cal BP (Sanford Reference Sanford1983). Dating of this site is problematic because of site disturbance and poor stratigraphic control, but subsequent dating of fiber artifacts from relevant levels ranges from about 6600 to 9000 cal BP (Table 1), consistent with the initially reported dates and indicating that the tobacco seeds are likely at least 6,600 years old.

Table 1.

New Radiocarbon Dates from Dirty Shame Rockshelter to Contextualize Age of Pipes.

Table 1 Long description

The table lists seven radiocarbon measurements by excavation unit and level, reporting the radiocarbon age with uncertainty, the calibrated age range at the stated probability, the lab identifier, the dated material, and a catalog number. Calibrated ranges extend from about 9,120 to 8,770 years before present for the oldest sample to about 6,735 to 6,500 years before present for the youngest. Level 7 in Unit B3 contains the two oldest dates, both on Artemisia bark items, a twined basketry fragment and a twined sandal. Level 6 includes five dates spanning roughly 8,380 to 7,590 down to 6,735 to 6,500 years before present, covering netting, twined basketry, a twined sandal, and a Typha quid. Within Level 6, multiple samples from Unit A3 cluster in the late eight-thousand to mid seven-thousand years before present range, suggesting repeated activity or deposition during that period. The sequence indicates older deposits in Level 7 and younger deposits in Level 6, but overlap among Level 6 ranges means the ordering is not strictly separated by unit. Interpretations should consider that calibrated ranges and uncertainties can overlap and that different materials may date different events related to use, discard, or deposition.

Notes: All dates calibrated in OxCal v.4.4 (Bronk Ramsey Reference Bronk Ramsey2021) using the IntCal 20 Curve (Reimer et al. Reference Reimer, Austin, Bard, Bayliss, Blackwell, Ramsey and Butzin2020) and rounded following the conventions of Stuiver and Polach (Reference Stuiver and Polach1977).

Tobacco seeds that appear to be an indigenous western species (cf. N. quadrivalvis) have been reported from prairie and plains sites (the Dakotas, Iowa, Illinois), although the seeds’ earliest presence there is currently unknown (Haberman Reference Haberman1984:276; Pauketat et al. Reference Pauketat, Kelly, Fritz, Lopinot, Elias and Hargrave2002). The introduction of the western tobaccos to the east could have preceded the presence of N. rustica there, been adopted along with N. rustica, or incorporated later. Middle Missouri villagers were cultivating a variety of N. quadrivalvis, and Haberman (Reference Haberman1984:283) suggests that, if preceded by N. rustica, the western tobacco had fully replaced it by the last millennium, strengthening trade connections between the Upper Missouri villages and the Columbia Plateau economic sphere (Griswold Reference Griswold1954; Hayden and Schulting Reference Hayden and Schulting1997).

Although tobacco use in Western North America is ancient, the nature of its earliest use (whether sniffed, chewed, eaten, drunk, or smoked) remains uncertain. Nicotiana plant elements in quids suggest that they were “sucked and/or chewed primarily for pleasure and the stimulant effect” (Adams et al. Reference Adams, Johnson and Murphy2015:322). The Haida and Tlingit sucked nicotine from “snuff” balls made of dried and ground tobacco (De Laguna Reference De Laguna1972; Dixon Reference Dixon1933; Turner and Taylor Reference Turner and Taylor1972), a practice also documented among Native peoples of South America and the circum-Caribbean region (Nieves-Rivera et al. Reference Nieves-Rivera, Muñoz-Vázquez and Betancourt-López1995; Ostapkowicz Reference Ostapkowicz2020; Rick et al. Reference Rick, Lema, Echeverría, Valverde, Contreras, Espinoza, Rosenfeld and Sayre2025; Schultes Reference Schultes, Efron, Holmstedt and Kline1967). On the Northwest Coast, Turner and Taylor (Reference Turner and Taylor1972:249) note, “The long-standing use of tobacco is evidenced by its frequent appearance in both Haida and Tlingit myths,” although some Northwest Coast groups who cultivated tobacco may not have consumed it by smoking in precontact times (De Laguna Reference De Laguna1972; Turner and Taylor Reference Turner and Taylor1972). Sniffing powdered tobacco was a preferred method of consumption in Western societies beginning in the sixteenth century; ornate snuff boxes and bottles then became status symbols. The US congressional chambers had communal snuff boxes until the mid-twentieth century, and although unused today, a snuff box remained in the British House of Commons into the twenty-first century (Fuller Reference Fuller2013; Ganninger Reference Ganninger2026; Lewis Reference Lewis2024). Although in modern Western society we strongly associate tobacco with smoking, historically other modes of consumption were predominant.

Our review of the early occurrences of smoking pipes finds that the earliest pipes are documented where the earliest native tobaccos are found—that is, in the semi-arid West—by about 6000 cal BP and possibly as early as about 8000 cal BP. This deep history of tobacco and pipe use provides an important case for understanding the enduring relationships between people and psychoactive plants, as well as associated technologies and stewardship practices.

The Smoking Evidence: Pipes

Smoking pipes found archaeologically are most commonly of two basic forms: (1) tube pipes with a straight hole from bowl to mouthpiece and (2) elbow pipes with a bowl angled from the mouthpiece. Either may have a smoking tube of cane or hollow bone to serve as a mouthpiece. Pipes were most frequently made of stone (such as sandstone, volcanic tuff, and steatite) or clay and less often of bone or wood.

Although smoking pipes are present in many museum and private collections, the context and age of most are unfortunately unknown. Because our objective was to explore the earliest evidence for smoking, we focused only on pipes and pipe fragments recovered during formal archaeological investigations with associated radiocarbon dates or dated contexts older than about 3500 cal BP.

Smoking Pipes versus Sucking Tubes

Heizer (Reference Heizer1949:24) suggested that some reported pipes in southern California and the Central California Valley, particularly pipe forms that exhibit no interior residue or charring to suggest smoking, may have served as sucking tubes as part of curing rituals. Such use is documented ethnographically in southern California, Baja California, and northwestern Mexico (Kroeber Reference Kroeber1908; Longstreth Reference Longstreth2007; O’Neil Reference O’Neil1983; Polk Reference Polk1972). Although this may be the case in some contexts, many such pipes are from burials and may have been placed unused to accompany the departed in their afterlife journey. Rafferty (Reference Rafferty, Bollwerk and Tushingham2016:14) argues that pipes from the eastern Woodlands were primarily smoking implements while acknowledging that “some Early Woodland tubes may have had other uses besides smoking.”

For our review, we assumed that items in the form of smoking pipes were used (or were intended to be used) as smoking implements. In the northern Great Basin and southern Columbia Plateau—where the earliest pipes are most concentrated—there was no tradition of using sucking tubes for healing. In contrast, ethnographer Leslie Spier (Reference Spier1930:109) reports that for the Klamath a shaman “is the vehicle of the spirit; the spirit sings with his voice, sucks with his lips, and sees with his eyes”; “he bites the body hard and sucks. . . . He really sinks his teeth in, drawing blood as he sucks” (Spier Reference Spier1930:126). A Modoc shaman “placed his mouth on the patient’s body and began to suck . . . the lips were placed against the skin. . . . Sometimes biting was resorted to but care was taken not to break the skin”; as the intensity of treatment increased, the shaman might “discharge from his mouth a quantity of blood” (Ray Reference Ray1963:59). A Wishram shaman used hands to draw the disease; then “he applied his mouth to the spot to suck it out. (A tube was not used.)” (Spier and Sapir Reference Spier and Sapir1930:246). In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, the shaman “sucked on the place where he had the ailment, and he extracted it” (Jacobs Reference Jacobs1945:63).

Beyond the Far West

Pipes are found throughout the Eastern Woodlands beginning in the Early Woodland period (after about 3,000 years ago) or slightly earlier in the Late Archaic. Winters (Reference Winters1969) reports a refuse pit at the Robeson Hills site in Illinois that produced a date of 3490 ± 200 BP (median age of about 3785 cal BP). Rafferty and Mann (Reference Rafferty and Mann (editors)2004:xi; see also Rafferty Reference Rafferty, Bollwerk and Tushingham2016, Reference Rafferty2021) cite the Eva site in Tennessee as producing “one of the earliest known smoking pipes” in the East, although the dating is imprecise. In their Eva site report, Lewis and Lewis (Reference Lewis and Lewis1961) note two pipes in the site’s Component 3, estimated to date from about 4,000 to 2,500 years ago.

On the Plains, pipes appear to be limited to the most recent millennium (Beck et al. Reference Beck, Trabert and Hill2023; Gunnerson Reference Gunnerson1968). Wedel (Reference Wedel1947) notes that some pipes on the Central Plains reflect later Puebloan influence. In southern British Columbia, Keddie (Reference Keddie, Bollwerk and Tushingham2016) finds that pipes date only within the last 1,200 years or so.

Adams (Reference Adams2010, Reference Adams2013) reports that stone and fired clay pipes are found in the Southwest beginning about 3,000 years ago. Stone drills needed to fashion pipe bowls, with wide blades and wear facets exhibiting heavy rotational striations, are present in Basketmaker II components but not earlier (Phil Geib, personal communication 2025). Vint (Reference Vint and Vierra2018) suggests that pipes only appear at sites in southern Arizona and northern Sonora during the Early Agricultural period (after about 4000 cal BP).

Evidence from the Far West

Sites with pipes recovered from contexts older than about 3,500 years are discussed in this subsection, generally ordered from the youngest to oldest (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Western United States detail map showing sites mentioned in the article.

Figure 2 Long description

The map of the Western United States highlights archaeological sites where pipes older than 3,500 years have been found. The sites are marked with black dots and labeled with their names. In Washington, Cox's Pond is identified. Oregon features Conley Caves and Big M & DJ Ranch. Idaho includes Old's Ferry, and Dirty Shame Rockshelter. Wyoming has Mummy Cave. Utah shows Hogup Cave and Wishbone Site. California includes Nightfire Island, Tecolote Point and Eakins Point. A scale bar at the bottom left indicates distances in miles, with a north arrow for orientation.

Connley Caves (35LK50)

These caves were the focus of excavations in 1967–1968, where Bedwell (Reference Bedwell1973) recovered two pipe fragments. One was from shallow deposits in Connley Cave 1, likely dating within the last 1,500 years based on the presence of arrow points in the same level. The second pipe came from Cave 5 in a level radiocarbon dated to about 3600 cal BP (3330 ± 110 ¹⁴C BP [3870–3345 cal BP]). This date is from the Gakushuin Laboratory, which is known to have produced erroneous dates in the 1960s and early 1970s (Blakeslee Reference Blakeslee1994; Connolly et al. Reference Connolly, Finley, Smith, Jenkins, Endzweig, O’Neill and Baxter2017), although this date seems to be stratigraphically consistent with subsequent dating at the site. University of Oregon field schools returned to the Connley Caves during the summers of 2000 and 2001 and from 2014 to 2024, recovering six additional pipe fragments from Cave 6 (Figure 3). Four were from disturbed deposits, and two were from undisturbed deposits that also contained Elko series projectile points and ground stone tools. From undisturbed contexts, the first pipe (1195-CC-4C-17-6) came from 1,357.50–1,357.45 m asl, and the other (1195-CC-6B-12-5,6) was at 1,357.10–1,357.05 m asl, or 35–40 cm below the first. A hearth located below both pipes at 1,355.92 m asl dates between 3570 and 3480 cal BP (3320 ± 15 ¹⁴C BP), and a hearth located above the pipes at 1,357.88 m asl dates between 2100 and 2000 cal BP (2095 ± 20 ¹⁴C; Table 2). The pipes thus date to between 2100 and 3500 cal BP. A series of coprolites and cordage from Cave 5 found at comparable elevations to the pipes range in age from about 3600 to 3200 cal BP (McDonough Reference McDonough2019).

Figure 3.

Pipes from Connley Caves: (a–b) from Bedwell excavations ([a] from ca. 3600 cal BP level); (c–h) from 2014–2024 excavations ([c–d] from ca. 3600–3200 cal BP context; [f] from <1500 cal BP context; [e, g–h] are from disturbed deposits and undated). (Color online)

Figure 3 Long description

The image displays eight pipe fragments from Connley Caves, labeled a to h. Each fragment is accompanied by a scale reference indicating measurements in millimeters. The fragments are as follows: - Fragment a: Labeled 1195-CC-5-13-1-4. - Fragment b: Labeled 1195-CC-5-13-1-5. - Fragment c: Labeled 1195-CC-6B-12-5,6. - Fragment d: Labeled 1195-CC-5-13-1-6. - Fragment e: Labeled 1195-CC-5-3-2. - Fragment f: Labeled 2823-6B-11-4. - Fragment g: Labeled 1195-CC-6B-12-3. - Fragment h: Labeled 1195-CC-6B-12-4. The fragments vary in shape and size, with some showing circular openings and others having distinct edges or patterns. The scale reference provides a visual guide for the size of each fragment, with measurements up to 2 millimeters and 1 millimeter divisions.

Table 2.

New Radiocarbon Dates from Connley Cave 6 to Contextualize Age of Pipes.

Table 2 Long description

The table lists four radiocarbon measurements from Connley Cave 6, giving catalog number, elevation in meters above sea level, radiocarbon age with uncertainty, calibrated age range at 95.4 percent probability, lab number, and the charcoal material dated. Two samples from catalog 99.68−98.55−1 at about 1357.9 meters above sea level date a 6-ER−2 feature: one Amaranthaceae twig charcoal calibrates to about 2300 to 2050 years ago, and one Artemisia charcoal calibrates to about 2100 to 2000 years ago. Two samples from the 6−17/HF−1 hearth at about 1356.8 to 1356.9 meters above sea level are older: Artemisia charcoal calibrates to about 3570 to 3480 years ago, and Purshia charcoal calibrates to about 3570 to 3465 years ago. The two hearth dates closely agree with each other, and the two feature dates are younger and fall within a narrower, later time span. Elevations differ by roughly one meter across all entries, so the main contrast is chronological rather than vertical. Calibrated ranges depend on the calibration model and curve used, so the reported calendar ranges should be treated as probabilistic estimates rather than exact years.

Notes: All dates calibrated in OxCal v.4.4 (Bronk Ramsey Reference Bronk Ramsey2021) using the IntCal 20 Curve (Reimer et al. Reference Reimer, Austin, Bard, Bayliss, Blackwell, Ramsey and Butzin2020) and rounded following the conventions of Stuiver and Polach (Reference Stuiver and Polach1977).

In central California, Rosenthal (Reference Rosenthal2025:410) reports that pipes with clearly associated radiocarbon ages date no earlier than about 1,100 years ago. He further notes that pipes assigned to the Windmiller period (ca. 5000–2500 cal BP) based on context are known from a single site, which produced dates ranging from about 3800 to 1400 cal BP (Jeffrey S. Rosenthal, personal communication 2025).

Earlier pipes are known from the Santa Barbara coast and Channel Islands. A site with relatively early stone elbow pipes on Santa Rosa Island (CA-SRI-41A) was recently dated to between 3360 to 2725 cal BP (Nakatsuka et al. Reference Nakatsuka, Holguin, Sedig, Langenwalter II, Carpenter, Culleton and García-Moreno2023). Tecolote Point (CA-SRI-3) is on Santa Rosa Island where pipes were associated with burials (King Reference King1990:30). Cultural deposition at the site began as early as 7900 cal BP, and some burials appear to be early, but many were most likely associated with an approximately 4,300-year-old midden overlying the graves (Erlandson Reference Erlandson1994). King (Reference King2011) also pictures a pipe from the Eakin’s site (CA-SBA-119), located on the coast of Santa Barbara County, which has associated dates ranging from about 5000 to 3000 cal BP (Rick et al. Reference Rick, Erlandson and Vellanoweth2000).

Cox’s Pond site, Washington (45DO172)

This site is located near the Columbia River in central Washington. Hartmann (Reference Hartmann1975) conducted emergency excavations associated with highway bridge construction at this site in 1971. It contained caches of purposefully arranged artifacts within or adjacent to house floors, interpreted as ritual deposits. Four pipes, two made of soapstone (steatite) and two of siltstone, were recovered. Three pipes are clearly within caches, which appear to have been ritually burned; one pipe was located about 30 cm outside a cache. Two radiocarbon dates place the occupation at about 4500 cal BP. Although not apparently burial features, the context of these pipes is similar to and contemporary with the Western Idaho Burial Complex (Galm and Komen Reference Galm, Komen, Reid and Galm2012).

Olds Ferry Dunes, Idaho (10WN557)

This site is located near the Snake River in western Idaho, directly across from Farewell Bend, Oregon, at the southern end of the Snake River Canyon. Road construction exposed ocher-stained sand that covered a burial associated with five pipes and a pipe fragment made of volcanic tuff (Pavesic Reference Pavesic2000). The site is undated, but the burials and associated artifacts appear to be consistent with the Western Idaho Burial Complex. The single date from an associated site (5790 ± 170 BP; Butler Reference Butler, Harten, Warren and Tuohy1980) is considered “questionable” by Pavesic (Reference Pavesic, Plew, Woods and Pavesic1985:78). He suggests an average age of about 4500 cal BP on typological grounds, and hydration analysis of obsidian from two sites suggests ages between around 4,600 and 4,500 years ago; however, broader evidence supports ages up to 6000 cal BP (Wallen Reference Wallen2016). Attributes of the complex include multiple burials, ocher, large turkey-tail projectile points, large obsidian blanks and preforms, large side-notched and foliate Cascade projectile points, and marine shell beads (Pavesic Reference Pavesic, Plew, Woods and Pavesic1985; Wallen Reference Wallen2016).

DJ Ranch site, Oregon (35LK2758)

This is a mid- to late Holocene multi-occupation site located on a lunette dune in the Fort Rock Basin. Excavations in 1993 and 1994 were conducted under a Bureau of Land Management plan in connection with a diatomite mining operation (Moessner Reference Moessner, Jenkins, Connolly and Aikens2004). Three pipe fragments were recovered from the site (Figure 4); two were associated with Stratum 1c dating to about 3700 cal BP (¹⁴C dates of 3370 ± 60, 3380 ± 100, 3510 ± 80; combined 94.5% prob. range 4060–3400 cal BP). One pipe of volcanic tuff was recovered from a house floor that was dated to around 4680 cal BP (4160 ± 120; 5040–4300 cal BP).

Figure 4.

Pipe fragments from the DJ Ranch site: (a–b) from Stratum 1c (4060–3400 cal BP), (c) from a house floor dating to ca. 4680 cal BP. (Color online)

Figure 4 Long description

The photograph shows three pipe fragments arranged vertically with labels a, b and c. Fragment a is in the left column, consisting of a curved piece and a flat piece. Fragment b is in the right column, showing a curved piece and a flat piece. Fragment c is below b, with a curved piece and a larger flat piece. Each fragment has a specimen ID: 902-DJ2-F-C-3-4 for a, 932-DJ2-U4-B-4-3b for b and 932-DJ2-L1-B-6-5 for c. A millimeter scale is at the bottom, providing size reference. The fragments appear to be made of stone or ceramic, with worn and broken surfaces. The image is styled as a clinical documentation photo, with a plain background and clear labeling for archaeological cataloging purposes.

Mummy Cave, Wyoming (48PA201)

This site is located near the North Fork Shoshone River in the Rocky Mountains of western Wyoming. Excavations in the early to mid-1960s identified 38 occupation layers (Husted and Edgar Reference Husted and Edgar2002). In Layer 28, dating between around 6300 and 4300 cal BP (95.4% prob. range), Husted and Edgar (Reference Husted and Edgar2002) interpreted a bone tube with a burned end and darkened interior to be a possible smoking tube. They interpreted four bone tubes with charred and carbon-caked interiors from Layer 30 as pipes. Four dates from Layer 30 have combined 95.4% ranges between 5470 and 4150 cal BP, with median ages ranging from 5060 to 4600 cal BP.

Nightfire Island, California (4SK4)

This site is located on a low rise within a marsh bordering Lower Klamath Lake, near the modern Oregon–California border (Figure 2). Some materials recovered from it were collected in the early 1960s (Howe Reference Howe1968); subsequent controlled excavations by the University of Oregon were conducted in 1966 and 1967. Beginning about 7,500 years ago, the site served as a seasonal waterfowl hunting station, but between about 5,500 and 5,000 years ago, “many tons of basalt rubble” (Sampson Reference Sampson1985:124) were brought to the site (Stratum 6) to stabilize muck and clay surfaces, creating a platform on which people built clay-floored houses.

The controlled excavations recovered a single pipe with a bird bone stem from near the upper portion of the rubble fill, likely associated with the cluster of houses (Figure 5). The rubble layer, Stratum 6, produced three radiocarbon dates, with calibrated 95.4% probability ranges of 5900–4700 cal BP. The overlying Stratum 8, with the houses, produced two dates with calibrated ranges between 4960 and 4155 cal BP (Sampson Reference Sampson1985). Howe (Reference Howe1968) recovered three stone and one bone pipe from the muck underlying the rubble fill. Dates from the muck range from about 7500 to 4250 cal BP, partially overlapping with the age ranges just cited. Howe (Reference Howe1968:238–241) observed,

From this layered island it was possible for the first time that smoking was a habit of very ancient origin. . . . Near the surface, the Modoc pipes of steatite and sandstone were found. Lower down, the pipes seemed simpler, even though some of the material from which they were made was imported. In the lowest levels, the pipes were made of native stone or bone and showed a decided difference in style from those in the upper strata.

Figure 5.

Pipes from the early levels of Nightfire Island (from Sampson Reference Sampson1985): (a) from the controlled excavations (rubble fill), Stratum 6 (ca. 5650–5100 cal BP); (b–e) from Howe collection in deposits underlying the rubble ([d] is bone).

Figure 5 Long description

The illustration shows five ancient pipes labeled a to e. Each pipe has a distinct shape and design. Pipe a is a small, cylindrical piece with a textured surface. Pipe b is circular with a hollow center. Pipe c is elongated with a pointed end. Pipe d is a long, narrow piece with a smooth surface. Pipe e is similar to d but slightly wider. A scale bar indicates measurements in centimeters.

In summary, pipes from Nightfire Island appear to date from at least 5,500 years ago, and possibly as early as 7,500 years ago, although precise dating is lacking for the earliest pipes.

Big M Site, Oregon (35LK2737)

This was a village situated in a dune and slough landscape in the Fort Rock Basin, occupied during a wet period when lakes and marshes covered much of the valley. Jenkins (Reference Jenkins, Aikens and Jenkins1994) recovered three pipe fragments from the site: one from a house floor dating to about 3825 cal BP, one from the floor of a wickiup-type structure dated to about 5625 cal BP, and a bone tube thought to be a pipe stem from the floor of a nearby structure dated to a nearly identical age of about 5650 cal BP (Figure 6).

Figure 6.

Pipes from the Big M site: (a) associated with a 3785 cal BP date; (b) from a house floor dated to ca. 5610 cal BP; (c) a bone pipe surface find. (Color online)

Figure 6 Long description

The image shows two bone pipe fragments. The left fragment is circular with a central hole, labeled '7794-12B-58'. Below it is a section of the same fragment showing a hollow interior. The right side displays another fragment in three views: a curved section, a side view and a top view with a hollow center, labeled 'GN-11-19-74-2' and '704-17'. A scale is present at the bottom, marked with '2 mm' and '1 mm'.

Hogup Cave, Utah (42BO36)

This cave is on the slope of Hogup Mountain at the western edge of the Great Salt Lake Basin. Aikens (Reference Aikens1970) identified 16 strata, numbered from base to surface, during excavations in 1967 and 1968. He interpreted a well-polished broken bone tube with a charred and blackened interior surface from Stratum 5 as a pipe (Aikens Reference Aikens1970:90). Martin and colleagues (Reference Martin, Coltrain and Codding2017) performed a series of Bayesian analyses of the site’s stratigraphy and associated radiocarbon dates. In their final model they estimated the age of Stratum 5 (with five associated dates) between about 8200 and 6640 cal BP.

In sum, smoking pipes occur throughout the Far West by 3500 cal BP. Pipes from contexts older than about 5,000 years are reported from Nightfire Island in the Klamath Basin and the Big M site in the Fort Rock Basin. Hogup Cave in western Utah produced apparent smoking tubes from levels dating between 8200 and 6600 cal BP. A notable cluster of early pipes were found in the northern Great Basin (Fort Rock/Klamath basins). The practice of smoking with pipes is ancient and connects to traditions maintained by contemporary Native communities.

Discussion

The desert tobaccos of the North American Far West migrated north from South America during the Pleistocene era or earlier and were present when people first arrived. Winter (Reference Winter and Winter2000b:265) suggests that these tobaccos were likely used by the earliest people in the Americas, and current evidence indicates tobacco has been used in western North America for more than 12,000 years (Duke et al. Reference Duke, Wohlgemuth, Adams, Armstrong-Ingram, Rice and Young2022).

Tobacco in Spiritual Life

Nicotine, the active chemical in tobacco, is a stimulant that triggers the release of adrenaline. It can temporarily enhance concentration and memory; it also elevates the neurotransmitter dopamine, which can enhance feelings of well-being and relaxation. These reasons alone may have encouraged its use by ancient peoples. Nicotine is also a psychotropic substance and when smoked in heavy doses can produce altered consciousness (Kartesz Reference Kartesz2015; La Barre Reference La Barre1970). Because of its perceived ability to provide access to otherworldly or supernatural powers, it has historically been associated with shamanism and healing (Von Gernet Reference Von Gernet and Winter2000:79). Although uses and contexts varied, Springer (Reference Springer1981:219) posits that an underlying concept was that “tobacco had the power to put one into a spiritually exalted state which was necessary even for secular enterprises.” Furthermore, smoke was thought to carry prayers to the Creator. As one scholar noted, smoking at important negotiations was a seen as a way of invoking a supernatural power, thereby “invoking . . . the power of tobacco upon their sacred oath” (La Barre Reference La Barre1970:77).

Perry Chocktoot, a former Klamath Tribal Council member and former head of the Klamath Tribes Culture and Heritage Department, explains that tobacco was—and is—central to both personal and community prayer (Figure 7):

My great-grandfather, David Connolly, was a noted shaman and healer, and smoking was a part of prayer, a way to communicate with our Creator. My father and other family members carried a pipe as part of a personal medicine bundle, which is something that not only goes through life with us but also travels to the other side when we pass away. My father emphasized that our family has smoked our sacred pipes for thousands of years and we should use them for another thousand years as it was a part of our prayer lives that is necessary to function [personal communication 2025].

Figure 7.

Stak-it-ut (Tom Chocktoot, father of David, great-grandfather of Perry) holding two large elbow pipes, with his wife Yaya, circa 1873 (photo courtesy of Perry Chocktoot).

Figure 7 Long description

Stak-it-ut is positioned on the left, holding two large elbow pipes in front of his torso. He is wearing a wide-brimmed hat, a jacket and a vest over a light shirt. Yaya is positioned on the right, wearing a shawl over a light blouse, with one hand near her waist. A pole-and-thatch structure fills much of the background behind them.

As a conduit to the Creator, and as symbolic of spirituality, healing, and integrity, tobacco was, and is, regarded as a sacred element. As did many other Tribal communities, while hunting, the Karuk of California spread tobacco on the ground as a gift to the earth for their taking an animal, as well as using it in first foods blessings, as a medicine, and in various public ceremonies (Harrington Reference Harrington1932).

Tobacco as Medicine

Native peoples use tobacco in traditional curing as a disinfectant and anesthetic (Charlton Reference Charlton2004). Waterman (Reference Waterman1910:335–336) reported, “Tobacco smoke was blown on a man in case of sickness. Tobacco smoke was also blown into the air to prevent disease and misfortune when ill-omened events occurred.” Harrington (Reference Harrington1932:225, 227) noted that for the Karuk of northern California, “When somebody gets hurt, or cut, then they put on tobacco where he got cut. . . . The suck doctresses, too, used tobacco smoke. . . . They hold the tobacco smoke in the mouth. Then they suck. That was their best medicine, tobacco.” Gatschet (Reference Gatschet1890:167) reported a Klamath incantation: “The smoking pipe is my medicine-tool, the implement for the tobacco.” The Sahaptins of the Columbia River basin drank a tobacco tea to induce vomiting “for purification” (Hunn Reference Hunn1990:198, 230). The Chumash ingested tobacco “to promote good health,” and it was used externally for topical pain relief (Timbrook Reference Timbrook1987:175).

European explorers learned of tobacco treatments used by Natives in the Americas, knowledge that was later integrated into medical practice by European physicians. Dozens of books published in Europe in the sixteenth century mentioned medicinal tobacco, with authors referring to tobacco as “God’s remedy,” a “holy healing herb,” a “sovereign healer,” and “noble medicine” (Fairholt Reference Fairholt1859:47, 50; Stewart Reference Stewart1967:233). Although tobacco is no longer used in a medicinal context (Sanchez-Ramos Reference Sanchez-Ramos2020), recent research has explored the modern application of tobacco therapies (Berlowitz et al. Reference Berlowitz, García Torres, Walt, Wolf, Maake and Martin-Soelch2020) and its use in the production of vaccine antigens (Guan et al. Reference Guan, Bin, Huo, Guan and Wei2010).

Tobacco Economics

During the Corps of Discovery’s 1805–1806 winter at Fort Clatsop, Meriwether Lewis (Reference Lewis1806) recorded this on January 8, 1806: “The Clatsops Chinnooks and others inhabiting the coast and country in this neighborhood, are excessively fond of smoking tobacco.” Spier (Reference Spier1930:86–87) reported that among the Klamath “smoking is a common leisure pastime of both men and women,” and Isabel Kelly (Reference Kelly1932) similarly found that smoking was a nonceremonial evening pastime for the Surprise Valley Paiute men but rarely for women. The Karuk routinely shared a pipe when meeting a stranger while traveling (Harrington Reference Harrington1932). Teit (Reference Teit1900:302) noted that among the Thompson Salish it was customary “when a man or a woman meets a friend . . . for them to sit down together, and for one of the parties to fill the pipe.” Recreational use was not universal, however; among the Wishram of the Columbia River it was reported that smoking was mostly the domain of chiefs and shamans (Spier and Sapir Reference Spier and Sapir1930). Among the Chumash, smoking “was done only by specialists and intended as a blessing, for purification or for curing” (Timbrook Reference Timbrook1987:175).

As a substance valued in important social and religious contexts, as well as recreationally, tobacco became a valued trading commodity, a fact that the Lewis and Clark expedition noted and extensively took advantage of to secure their basic needs on their trek to the Pacific. The explorers quickly recognized the role of tobacco and smoking in all decision-making occasions among tribes that they met along their trek to the Pacific; Clark called it “an article indispensable in those cases” (Thwaites Reference Thwaites1904:209, citing pp. 223 of Clark’s Codex C).

Tobacco was cultivated throughout most of North America in precontact times, including the Southwest (Castetter Reference Castetter1943), throughout the Mississippi River Basin and Eastern Seaboard (Setchell Reference Setchell1921), and in the Plains villages along the Missouri River (Lowie Reference Lowie1954:26–27). It was also cultivated in much of the Far West (Douglas Reference Douglas1914; Spier Reference Spier1930; Turner Reference Turner1978; Whereat Phillips Reference Whereat Phillips, Bollwerk and Tushingham2016), but when cultivation began throughout the region is unknown. Although many plants were actively managed—by burning, pruning, selective harvesting, and the like—tobacco was often the only plant for which soil was purposefully prepared and seed planted. The ethnographic record on this is relatively robust for groups from California to British Columbia (Barrett and Gifford Reference Barrett and Gifford1933; Deur and Turner Reference Deur and Turner (editors)2005). In the Willamette Valley of western Oregon in 1825, the Scottish botanist David Douglas (Reference Douglas1914:141) encountered a Native tobacco garden: “An open place in the wood is chosen where there is dead wood, which they burn, and sow the seed in the ashes. . . . I met the owner, who . . . told me that wood ashes made it grow very large.” Harrington (Reference Harrington1932:9) observed that the Karuk of northern California “were not farmers, and yet they were not without agriculture”: they cultivated one plant, tobacco. Tobacco was cultivated aboriginally on Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) in British Columbia (Turner and Taylor Reference Turner and Taylor1972). Throughout the West, where largely nonagricultural groups intensively managed wild plants and environments, tobacco was cultivated well outside its native range (Keddie Reference Keddie, Bollwerk and Tushingham2016; Lepofsky and Lertzman Reference Lepofsky and Lertzman2008; Lightfoot et al. Reference Lightfoot, Cuthrell, Striplen and Hylkema2013; Tushingham et al. Reference Tushingham, Ardura, Eerkens, Palazoglu, Shahbaz and Fiehn2013).

Tobacco and Smoking Today

Tobacco is today recognized most prominently as a public health issue and regarded by the World Health Organization as the leading global cause of preventable death (Mackay Reference Mackay2012), yet modern Native communities continue to regard tobacco as a sacred element. It might be sprinkled as part of a ritual or burned in a dish so the smoke can carry prayers to the Creator. And unlike the dominant association for tobacco in modern culture with death and illness, tobacco continues to serve as a symbol for peace and healing among many Native American communities (Struthers and Hodge Reference Struthers and Hodge2004).