Beaver Effigy Platform Pipe

When I first looked at this I thought it was really cute and since some cultures worshipped birds, then they  must have worshipped beavers too, for some odd reason. The eyes creeped me out a little bit but it makes the beaver, I think. After we learned about this in class, I would have never guessed that it would be a pipe. The pipes that people normally see now are the old fashioned tabacco pipes that they used when our grandfathers were our age, or the pipes for pot for the potheads.
The people that made these were known as Hopewell in North and Central America. They would carve their own pipes that would represent forest animals. I would pick a bear personally. A polar bear preferrably. They would use freshwater pearls and bone for the animal's teeth. I don't know about you guys but I would not put my mouth on something with freshwater bone. Ew! The bowl would be behind the animal, in this case a beaver, that could be filled with dried leaves or tabacco. So when you smoked it, the animal would be looking at you so you could be "face to face whose shining pearly eyes suggests an association with the spiritual world. It would creep me out if I was smoking out of this and saw the beaver staring a me with those pearly eyes for some spiritual reason. Not to go against someone's religion but why would you want to connect to the spiritual world? I just saw Paranormal Activity 3 and that was enough spirit for me! The whole spirits and ghosts stuff is not my cup of tea at all. But overall I thought this was pretty neat.
Here are some other pipes they carved.

Kandariya Mahadeva Temple, Khajuraho

I am normally not a building person but this thing wowed me. The thing that wowed me was the shape of it and the stone work is. I always said that I want some sort of stone work to my house if I ever build it. This temple kinda leaves me speechless. I read about it in the book and here's a little bit of information that I found that I would like to share.
This is the Kandariya Mahadeva temple that was dedicated to Shiva at Khajuraho located in Central India. The whole thing sits on a stone terrace that is supposed to set off a sacred space from the mundane world. On the right side, there are steps that leads to three halls, which are known as mandapas, (spaces specifically for rituals). This  temple was built out of stone blocks. You will notice that there are no vaults or arch techniques. Could you imagine how small the space is on the inside?
In the textbook on page 316, there is a picture of sculptures that were on the exterior of this temple. It explains in the book that they are unsure of their significance but it is definitely different to me.