Midden
A
midden, or kitchen midden, 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 tips created by nomadic groups or long-term, designated dumps used by several generations. In the latter case, a midden's
stratigraphy can become apparent.
Animal
bone,
faeces,
shell, rotten food,
vermin, broken pottery and other
artifacts and
ecofacts can all find their way into middens and they therefore provide a useful resource for archaeologists who wish to study the diet and habits of past societies. Middens with damp,
anaerobic conditions can preserve even delicate environmental remains and can be analysed for information regarding climate and seasonal use.
The
East Chisenbury midden is a famous example of a large dump, dating to the
1st millennium BC. Sited on
Salisbury Plain in the
United Kingdom, the midden mound contains discrete layers upon layers of
flint, charcoal, bones, pottery and excrement. It survives to a height of 2.5m and measures 140m in width despite 2,500 years of weathering. The accumulation is believed by some archaeologists to have a
ritual basis, with organised deposition of produce and waste being suggested as an explanation for its size and longevity.
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. In
West Yorkshire a midden is an out door toilet, typically in the back yards of terraced houses. Often attached to this small building is an outhouse which houses dustbins.
A
shell midden or
shell mound is midden comprised mainly of
mollusk shells.Like all middens, shell middens also contain the debris of human activity and remains of their meals. 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.
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.
The
archaeological study of shell middens began in
Denmark in the latter half of the
19th century. The Danish word for shell mound or midden mound
køkkenmødding or
koekken-moedding is now used internationally.
The shells have a high
calcium carbonate content, which tends to make the middens
alkaline. This slows the rate of decay normally caused by soil acidity, leaving a relatively high proportion of organic evidence (food remnants, organic tools) available for the archaeologist to find.
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Packrat midden
