shell mound

shell mound, in anthropology, prehistoric refuse heap, or mound, consisting chiefly of the shells of edible mollusks intermingled with evidence of human occupancy. Midden living, found throughout the world, first developed after the retreat of the glaciers and the disappearance of large Pleistocene animals hunted by prehistoric humans. Primitive peoples who adopted these hunting-collecting economies became more established; thus, the oldest pottery of northern Europe, eastern North America, and Central America occurs in shell mounds.

Many shell mounds have been examined, especially on the eastern coast of Denmark, where they may have been used year-round. Investigation showed that these mounds belonged to the late Mesolithic Ertebølle culture (c. 4000–2500 bc) and contained the remains of quadrupeds, birds, and fishes apparently used as food by prehistoric human inhabitants. Moreover, the mounds also contained full-sized remains of the common oyster and other mollusks, which at present cannot live in the brackish waters of the Baltic except near its entrance, the inference being that the shores where oysters flourished were open to the salt sea at the time the mounds were made. The mounds also yielded numerous flint implements as well as small pieces of coarse pottery.

Middens of the British Isles, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and North Africa also generally date from late Mesolithic–early Neolithic period (c. 4000–2000 bc). In southern Africa and northern Japan, where Neolithic cultures endured longer, midden accumulations continued until the coming of iron; and in the Pacific Islands they accumulated until recently. In the Americas, middens are represented by radiocarbon dates of 5000–2000 bc from Panama and eastern North America. Middens of South America and California probably antedate 2000 bc. As in the Old World, midden living persisted outside the higher civilizations, continuing until the European conquest.