These burials were excavated in Los Angeles County at a place called Malibu Ranch located west of Santa Monica.

These photos are taken from Inlaid Stone and Bone Artifacts from Southern California by E. K. Burnett in the Contributions from the Museum of the American Indian Heye Foundation Volume XIII published by the Museum of the American Indian Heye Foundation, New York, New York in 1944.

Pipes are present in the grave pictured at the left.  They are carved from steatite, a soft grey stone.  Occasionally a pipe of pale green serpentine appears.

Not all pipes were used for inhaling smoke.  Many were used for blowing clouds of smoke which enveloped those present.  These are sometimes referred to as "Cloud Blowers" and may have a tubular or cigar shape.

 
Included in this burial are a cogstone which has been inlaid with matched shell disc beads.  Two pipes are shown near the head of the deceased.
 Ridges cut into the stone were filled with asphaltum and inlaid with shell disc beads.
This is a frontal view of the pipe pictured above.
These pipes are inset with abalone and shell disc beads set in asphaltum.  The projections are believed to represent dorsal fins although the exact species depicted are unclear to modern people.  Some suggest a pipe fish as a possible model.  What do you think? Grünnadeln11Test1.jpg (15349 Byte)

Pipe fish photo by Dr. Ruediger Verhasselt
 
This pipe is from near Goleta in Santa Barbara County.  It is more than 16 inches in length and nearly 3 and 1/2 inches in diameter.  It is made of a medium brown steatite and weighs 4 pounds.

 

This pipe is from Malibu Ranch and is made of serpentine.  it is over 20 inches long and weighs nearly 5 and 1/2 pounds.  It is inlaid with shell disc beads set on edge.