Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 1. (2019)
Oana Toda: Tobacco Clay Pipes from Rupea Castle and their Historical Context
Tobacco Clay Pipes from Rupea Castle and their Historical Context 131 BRIEF CONCLUSIONS The tobacco clay pipes from Rupea castle prove that the smoking habit reached selected groups and, possibly, entire communities from the administrative seat as early as the 17th century. These artifacts fit the historical context of the principality and their dating is consistent with the archival sources and other researched lots. Furthermore, there is a high possibility that the introduction of tobacco smoking to Rupea occurred under the direct influence of the Ottoman military. Only six pipes from the site still preserve undeniable traces of use but they prove that the habit was practiced in Rupea and that the smoking accessories did not reach this location merely as transitory trade products. However, some of the pieces were the object of long distance trade, while other could be local or regional products. Nonetheless, the incidence of such smoking paraphernalia in contexts dominated by tableware and everyday life artifacts puts their presence into perspective and smoking can be regarded as a daily habit of the civilians and military troops using the castle. CATALOGUE OF FINDS Catalogue structure and abbreviations106 Description: a. shape, components and state of preservation; b. material: fabric, firing, treatments; c. color/overcoat; d. decoration: elements, technique, location on the artifact; e. production stamp. Dimensions. Year of discovery and archaeological context. В = bowl; C = chamber; DH = draft hole; S = shank; M = mortise; R = ring/shank end; d = diameter; h = height; 1 = length; w = width; t = thickness (Fig. 4). 1. a. Fragment of a tobacco clay pipe that only preserves the shank and the torus-shaped ring; b. good quality clay, fabric shows very fine sand, oxidized firing, a smoothed surface and faint molding lines; c. brick red fabric and slip; d. radial cogwheel decoration on the shank and ring as well as a smaller torus in front of the latter; DHd: 0.25 cm; Rd : 0.75 cm; Rd : 2 cm; Ml: int ext 2.2 cm; 2012; in the northern part of the lower castle, between the so-called ‘military warehouse and the gate tower; a modern period waste deposition layer. 2. a. Fragment of a tobacco clay pipe that only preserves the shank and ring; b. fine fabric shows fine sand, oxidized firing, traces of the molding line; c. reddish-brown fabric; d. mold-made radial ornaments on the ring as well as a small torus on the shank; SI: 2.5 cm; Rd : 1 cm; Rd : 2.2 cm; int ext 2010; exterior of the lower castle, gate tower, SI, fill of the drawbridge pit. 3. a. Shank end of a tobacco clay pipe shaped as a torus; b. good quality clay, fine fabric, fine sand, oxidized firing; c. light reddish-brown; Rd : 1.2 cm; Rd :2.1cm; mt ext 2010; exterior of the lower castle, gate tower, SI, fill of the drawbridge pit. 4. a. Fragment of a tobacco clay pipe only preserving the sank and ring with trapezoidal cross-section; the draft hole intersects the mortise tunnel halfway; b. kaolin clay, fabric shows fine sand, reduction firing, smoothed surface with an instrument and faint traces of molding lines; c. gray fabric at the interior and grayish-beige at the surface; shows gray secondary burn traces; DHd: 0.25 cm; Rd : 0.85 cm; Rd : 2 cm; Ml: int ext 3.9 cm; 2012; at the interior of the lower castle; west of the gate tower; modern period deposition layer. 5. a. Fragment of a tobacco clay pipe that only preserves part of the shank and the torus-like 106 In several cases the elements corresponding to letters d. and e. were absent, hence the missing references in the catalogue.
