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Midden

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Kitchen midden at Elizabeth Island, Strait of Magellan as excavated by the Albatross party with the Albatross at anchor.

A midden, also known as a kitchen midden, or a shell heap (when they contain a large number of shellfish remains),[1] is a dump for domestic waste. The word is of Scandinavian via Middle English derivation, but is used by archaeologists worldwide to describe any kind of feature containing waste products relating to day-to-day human life. They may be convenient, single-use pits created by nomadic groups or long-term, designated dumps used by sedentary communities that accumulate over several generations.

General middens

Midden deposits can contain a variety of archaeological material, including animal bone, feces, shell, botanical material, vermin, sherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation. These features, therefore, provide a useful resource for archaeologists who wish to study the diet and habits of past societies. Middens with damp, anaerobic conditions can even preserve organic remains which can be analyzed to obtain information regarding climate and seasonal use.

Generally, a midden is laid down in deposits as the debris of daily life are tossed on the pile. Each individual toss will contribute a different mix of materials depending upon the activity associated with that particular toss. During the course of deposition sedimentary material is deposited as well. Different mechanisms, from wind and water to animal digs, create a matrix which can also be analyzed to provide seasonal and climatic information. In some middens individual dumps of material can be discerned and analysed.[2]

Examples

Shell midden several kilometers long and tens of meters high proving an intense prehistoric use of the Banc d'Arguin National Park area in Mauritania

The East Chisenbury midden is a famous example of a large dump, dating to the 1st millennium BC. Situated on Salisbury Plain in the United Kingdom, the midden mound contains numerous discrete layers of flint, charcoal, bones, pottery and excrement. It survives to a height of 2.5 m and measures 140 m in width despite 2,500 years of weathering. The accumulation is believed by some archaeologists to have a ritual basis, with organised deposition of waste suggested as an explanation for its size and longevity. Middens in southwest Greenland indicate the prevalence and eventual decline of society there.[citation needed]

Shell middens

The Whaleback Shell Midden in Maine was used for oyster harvesting from 200 BCE to 1000 CE.

A shell midden or shell mound is an archaeological feature consisting mainly of mollusk shells. A midden, by definition, contains the debris of human activity, and should not be confused with wind or tide created beach mounds. 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. Some shell middens are directly associated with villages, as a designated village dump site. In other middens the material is directly associated with houses in the village; each house would dump their garbage directly outside the house. In all cases, shell middens are extremely complex and very difficult to excavate fully and exactly. However, 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.

Shells have a high calcium carbonate content, which tends to make the middens alkaline. 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.[3]

The archaeological study of shell middens began in Denmark in the latter half of the 19th century. The Danish word køkkenmødding (kitchen mound) is now used internationally. The English word "midden" (waste mound) derives from the Danish word mødding which in turn derives from møg (muck) and dynge (heap).

Examples

Shell midden strata, Kasori midden (加曽利貝塚, Kasori Kaiduka), Chiba Japan.
Shell midden preserve (right) as the cutting of small hill (left).
Closeup of thousand year old oyster shells.

Shell middens are found in coastal zones all over the world. Consisting mostly of mollusc shells, they are interpreted as being the waste products of meals eaten by nomadic groups or hunting parties. Some are small examples relating to meals had by a handful of individuals, others are many metres in length and width and represent centuries of shell deposition. In Brazil they are known as sambaquis, having been created over a long period between the 6th millennium BC and the beginning of European colonisation.

On Canada's west coast there are shell middens that run for more than a kilometer along the coast and are several meters deep.[4] The midden in Namu, British Columbia is over 9 meters deep and spans over 10,000 years of continuous occupation.

Shell middens created in coastal regions of Australia by indigenous Australians hold particular significance in Australia today. Aboriginal Australians were generally hunter-gatherer nomadic peoples who left no permanent structures, and middens provide evidence of prior occupation in native title claims and indigenous cultural assessment of mining and other developments. Again, one must exercise caution in deciding whether one is examining a midden or a beach mound. There are good examples on the Freycinet Peninsula in Tasmania where wave action currently is combining charcoal from forest fire debris with a mix of shells into masses that storms deposit above high water mark. Shell mounds near Weipa in far north Queensland that are up to 13 meters high and several hundred meters are considered to be middens,[5] but may also be explained by natural causes.[6]

Other definitions

The word "midden" is still in everyday use in Scotland, and has come by extension, to refer to anything that is a mess, including people. This use was also taken to Northern Ireland by Scottish plantation settlers. In West Yorkshire a midden is an outdoor toilet, typically in the back yards of terraced houses. Often attached to this small building is an outhouse which houses dustbins.

In the animal kingdom, ground burrows, also known as middens, are used mostly for food storage. For example, the North American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) usually has one large active midden in each territory with perhaps an inactive or auxiliary midden.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Brinton, D. G. (1866). "Artificial Shell-deposits of the United States". Washington: Smithsonian Institution.
  2. ^ Stein, Julie (2000). Exploring Coast Salish Prehistory: The Archaeology of San Juan Island. Washington: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0295979577.
  3. ^ "Whaleback Shell Midden". Whaleback Shell Midden. Retrieved 2006-05-11.
  4. ^ Stein, Julie (1992). Deciphering a Shell Midden. Academic Press. ISBN 0126647305.
  5. ^ Bailey,G; Chappell, J.B; Cribb, R (1994) "The origin of Anadara shell mounds at Weipa, North Queensland, Australia" Archaeology in Oceania. Volume 29 Number 2. Pages 69–80
  6. ^ ScienceDirect - Marine Geology : Shell mound formation in coastal northern Australia:
  7. ^ Alaska Department of Fish & Game: North American Red Squirrel
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