Midden

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 is a term used by archaeologists for a dump for domestic waste. One of the universal signs of human settlements, middens vary from convenient, single-use pits created by nomadic groups or, as in more modern times, long-term, designated dumps used by sedentary communities that accumulate over several generations.

Etymology

The word Midden is of Scandinavian origin, from the word mykdyngja, which literally translates as "manure pile". The term was transmitted to the English language via a Middle English derivation, "midding" and consequently has become Midden in more contemporary times.

It should be noted that the term midden is more of a technical term used by archaeologists and scholars. Landfill, garbage dump, and junk yard are the more colloquially used terms for contemporary middens.

Archaeological Signifigance

General Middens

One of the most universal characteristics of human groups is that they produce waste. While one or a few person's waste may go unnoticed as it is easily scattered about, a group of people produce exponentially more refuge. In ancient times, as humans started to band together into larger and larger groups, more waste began to be produced. Since early man traveled in nomadic groups that at first hunter/gathers, temporary middens first developed. Later, when settlements became permanent and centralized, and when humanity became more agrarian, somewhere to dispose of waste became one of the early sociological problems. The permanent midden, often a designated area to pile waste or a hole dug in the ground, was the solution.

Historical middens are often vaulable discoveries for archaeologists. Sometimes a midden is the first indication of the presence of an ancient settlement previously undiscovered; occasionally it is the only evidence of the presence of an ancient society. An old and large enough midden sometimes has stratigraphy which allows archaeologists to create timelines and helps in dating the midden and potentially the larger archaeological site. 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.

Famous Examples

The East Chisenbury midden is a famous example of a large dump, dating to the 1st millennium B.C.E.. 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 SW Greenland indicate the prevalence and eventual decline of society there.

Shell Middens

A shell midden or shell mound is a 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 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 evidence (food remnants, organic tools) available for archaeologists to find.

The Whaleback Shell Midden in Maine was used for oyster harvesting from 200 B.C.E. to 1000 C.E.

Famous Examples

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 B.C.E. 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 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 particularly significance in Australia today. Aboriginals were a hunter-gatherer nomadic people 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. Some caution should be exercised in interpreting whether these middens were man-made or developed by natural wave action. One would expect hunter-gatherers to efficiently harvest only edible shellfish and transport them to a secluded campsite to cook and eat. Yet many of these middens contain a high proportion of small and non-edible shells, and the sites are often on exposed promontories devoid of wood fuel. 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 long were originally considered to be middens, but are now attributed to natural causes.

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. 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.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Stein, Julie. Exploring Coast Salish Prehistory: The Archaeology of San Juan Island. University of Washington Press, 2000. ISBN 0295979577
• Stein, Julie. Deciphering a Shell Midden. Academic Press, 1992. ISBN 0126647305.

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