The Development of the Clay Tobacco Pipe Kiln in the British Isles

• Main Author: Allan Peacey
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of York 1996-09-01
• Series: Internet Archaeology
• Subjects: archaeology; tobacco; pipe; kilns; type series; development
• Online Access: http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue1/peacey_index.html

In 1982 Allan Peacey published a study in the form of a synthesis of two chronologically separated kilns used in the production of clay tobacco pipes (Peacey 1982, 3-17). The aims of the present work are: ◦to improve upon this framework ◦to establish how these type of structures fit into the broader picture; to fill the gaps, before, between and after these cameo views ◦to improve understanding of the technology employed and see the roots from which such technology developed. The primary objective is to catalogue all relevant material know to exist in museum and private collections. It is hoped that by this means an understanding of the varied physical characteristics will lead to the establishment of object or function categories around which reports may be structured. Contemporary source documents are also examined to shed further light upon the likely function of the archaeological material. Among the results achieved are the compilation of an extensive catalogue of material associated with tobacco pipe kilns; the establishment of type series for pipe kiln furniture and furniture supplements; a proposed development sequence for pipe kiln muffles; a pattern of consistency in kiln design throughout the study area, and details of the methods used for stem tipping. Readers will be able to view the archaeological evidence as distribution maps, and will be able to explore other aspects of the data through the timeline and site catalogues.