shell midden ([MC]) Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (3 ed.)
... midden [MC] An extensive rubbish heap consisting largely of shells discarded after the removal of the soft edible body portion, the result of many years of exploitation of marine resources as a main or supplementary food source. Shell middens are found in many different parts of the world from many different...
The Shell Midden Sites of Senegambia Reference library
Alioune Dème and Moustapha Sall
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...landscape, where the sea plays a major role in rituals and power relations. We will first define the geographical and cultural settings of the littoral where the shell midden sites are located. We will then move to the eustatic event that engendered the formation of natural shell middens: the Nouakchottien. We will focus next on the anthropogenic shell midden by describing the three broad shell midden archaeological areas. Finally, we will focus on Soukouta, where new data are shedding new light on Senegambian protohistory. The Senegambian Littoral Senegambia...
shell midden
Shell Middens Reference library
Julie K. Stein and Amanda K. Taylor
The Oxford Companion To Archaeology (2 ed.)
... Middens Shell middens are archaeological middens containing shell. The word midden has its roots in the Scandinavian languages, meaning material that accumulates about a dwelling place. Most shell found in archaeological shell middens, however, did not accumulate about a dwelling per se, and therefore the term is inaccurate. People more frequently throw shells aside after extracting, for a variety of purposes, the organic shellfish once inhabiting the shell. The term shell-bearing site has been suggested as a more accurate description of sites...
Shell Middens and Coastal Prehistory Reference library
John Parkington and Ruan Brand
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
... Middens and Coastal Prehistory Introduction Coastal shell middens, that is, archaeological deposits that are visually and materially dominated by discarded marine shells (shell matrix deposits in another terminology; Hausmann et al. 2019 ; Villagran 2019 ), are valuable opportunities for reconstructing relationships between hunter-gatherers, landscapes, and resources ( Claassen 1998 ; Erlandson 2001 ; Parkington 2006 ; Shiner et al. 2013 ; Stein 1992 ; Waselkov 1987 ). Shellfish remains in these middens are easy to sample (there are lots of...
Côte d’Ivoire Shell Middens: Specificity and Evolution Reference library
N’doua Etienne Ettien
The Oxford Encyclopedia of African Archaeology
...on what was learned from the different studies of shell middens on the Ivorian coast, this article will examine the major characteristics of these shell middens and will raise the question of their future. This examination relies on an analysis of reports from research projects, scientific publications, dissertations, and data collected in the field in order to report on their general state of conservation. The following discussion is structured, first of all, around the spatial distribution of the shell middens, then their structure, and finally their current...
midden
Quynh-van, Vietnam
Indian Knoll, Kentucky, USA
Key Marco
Hoabinhian
Obanian Culture
Impressed Ware Culture
sambaqui
Green River Culture
Natsushima, Japan
Ertebølle Culture
