“We know that there are over 2,000 shell heaps on the coast of Maine...."
I ask you, in all seriousosity, do they need to unearth them all, or will enough have been learned after another, say, twenty middens so that precious research grants can be spent on other ventures?
2
My house in Palm Beach (Near Mar-a-laho) has lots of shells all over the yard, remnants of the great shell middens built up on the barrier islands over the years. I hope Maine's have better future
3
The oysters in the Damariscotta river are delicious! Lots of farming going on these days
2
Fascinating story!
2
"Midden" a seemingly accurate Scandinavian word for refuse or a "heap" of discarded kitchen matter, is cringing to the ears of all but the non-indigenous Euro-sensibilities of modern archaeologists. Shell mounds, from Maine to Miami and beyond are markers of virtually all elements of life upon the earth, below and above. Mounds throughout northeastern North America are specifically termed by Algonkian speakers as markers of Helape Chen Kwaelas "Place Where Sun Is Born" "Midden" are more markers of temples than kitchens. Scientific care and protection of indigenous artifacts is much appreciated but please put midden back into the midden.
8
Rose called by any other name, still would smell the same. So do garbage pits of European sites.. and the middens, too
3
In the 70's, Dr. Barry Fell & members of the "Gungywamp Society" of Groton, CT, conducted a dig at a shell midden in Massachusetts, on property owned at the time by the local phone company. The midden had been previously, & unsuccessfully, explored by Yale University archaeologists. Yale proclaimed that "nothing was to be found there."
Fell & his team of amateur archaeologists did non-traditional & controversial dowsing techniques of the midden & identified at least 5 burial sites. Upon excavation of 3 of them, they found burial remains that upon later analysis dated from before 1500 BC to 1275 AD. More astoundingly, they discovered the use of red ochre in the burials as an honorific to the bodies. The red ochre was later subjected to a chemical analysis which revealed that the chemical makeup - or combination of compounds & organic materials in the red ochre - was the same throughout the almost 3000 year timespan. The implication was that this "recipe" to make red ochre had been passed down through the generations as part of the burial ceremony. In addition to the red ochre, they also found that all skeletal remains were buried in identical fetal positions & directions - facing East. The circular midden was surrounded by stones - some were taller like standing stones - that probably were used as a time determinate for the burial ceremony.
Yale subsequently lobbied the phone company & the site was shut down to prevent further study and exploration - by "amateurs."
35
Fantastic article. Does Joseph Kelly have a role here or does he just act as the loving, supportive spouse?
3
I also enjoyed this article, but am unclear what point you are making here. Are you concerned that he didn't get enough attention/airtime?
2
A fascinating article. Thanks.
13
As a college student I worked with shell middens on Costa Rica's western coast. Prior to our work it was thought the people who created the middens fished only along the shore. We discovered tuna bones that could only have come from deep sea fishing. Our work changed previously held theories about the boat building technology of the tribes. Middens may be garbage dumps but they are gold mines of information. I've often wondered what future archeologists might think about ours
33
I wouldn’t be so certain about the tuna. The only thing keeping them away from land is the likelihood of being caught/killed by man. Just as with the American Bison: there were plenty of forest bison in America, but once gunpowder arrived the only surviving bison were prairie bison.
8
NorthernVirginia,
I like your thought, but could there have been sufficient populations of the folks building these middens to deplete the world of shallow-water tuna? We need a tunologist, or perhaps Charley himself, to comment.
2