Abstract
Four different mineralogical varieties of pipestone have been recognized among 51 analyzed artifacts recovered from the Old Mobile site (1MB94) and from a contemporary, adjacent Native American site (1MB 147). X-ray powder diffractometry permits 11 specimens to be recognized as mineralogically simple Kansas pipestone and 35 specimens as mineralogically complex catlinite pipestone. It is possible to designate the specific original provenances (i.e., geologic sources) of the two types of pipestone, neither of which can be distinguished on the basis of diagnostic visual attributes in hand specimen. The Old Mobile site also yielded four examples of a very soft, grayish-red, easily carvable material interpreted as an unusual variety of catlinite, largely composed of poorly-crystallized talc, a raw material that has not been recognized previously in catlinite pipestone. A single pipe fragment from Old Mobile is composed of pale grayish-green “pipestone,” a well-crystallized, iron-rich chlorite of undetermined origin. Ten specimens from the contemporaneous Upper Creek Indian site of Fusihatchee (1EE191) consist of essentially identical chlorite, except that one also contains a minor amount of moderately well-crystallized talc.
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Gundersen, J.N., Waselkov, G.A. & Pollock, L.J.K. Pipestone argillite artifacts from old mobile and environs. Hist Arch 36, 105–116 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374342
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03374342