Shell middens are found in coastal or lakeshore zones all over the world. The Turtle Mound shell midden, in Florida, is the largest on the US East Coast. The English word "midden" (waste mound) derives from the same Old Norse word that produced the modern Danish one. The Danish word køkkenmødding (kitchen mound) is now used internationally. Shell middens were studied in Denmark in the latter half of the 19th century.
Įdward Sylvester Morse conducted one of the first archaeological excavations of the Omori Shell Mounds in Tokyo, Japan in 1877, which led to the discovery of a style of pottery described as "cord-marked", translated as " Jōmon", which came to be used to refer to the early period of Japanese history when this style of pottery was produced. This slows the normal rate of decay caused by soil acidity, leaving a relatively high proportion of organic material (food remnants, organic tools, clothing, human remains) available for archaeologists to find. Shells have a high calcium carbonate content, which tends to make the middens alkaline. The fact that they contain a detailed record of what food was eaten or processed and many fragments of stone tools and household goods makes them invaluable objects of archaeological study.
In all cases, shell middens are extremely complex and very difficult to excavate fully and exactly. Each household would dump its garbage directly outside the house. In other middens, the material is directly associated with a house in the village. Some shell middens are directly associated with villages, as a designated village dump site. Some shell middens are processing remains: areas where aquatic resources were processed directly after harvest and prior to use or storage in a distant location. A midden, by definition, contains the debris of human activity, and should not be confused with wind- or tide-created beach mounds. The Danish term køkkenmøddinger (plural) was first used by Japetus Steenstrup to describe shell heaps and continues to be used by some researchers. The Whaleback Shell Midden in Maine resulted from oyster harvesting from 200 BCE to 1000 CE.Ī shell midden or shell mound is an archaeological feature consisting mainly of mollusk shells. In some middens individual dumps of material can be discerned and analysed. Different mechanisms, from wind and water to animal digs, create a matrix which can also be analysed to provide seasonal and climatic information. During the course of deposition sedimentary material is deposited as well.
Each individual toss will contribute a different mix of materials depending upon the activity associated with that particular toss. Middens with damp, anaerobic conditions can even preserve organic remains in deposits as the debris of daily life are tossed on the pile. These features provide a useful resource for archaeologists who wish to study the diets and habits of past societies. A closeup of a shell midden in Argentina.Ī midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation.
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