Shell Middens

Shell middens are intentional anthropogenic accumulations in which marine or terrestrial mollusks play an important role. In many such accumulations, shell remains provide the structure for all or some of the deposits and thus provide a preservation environment predominantly influenced by the chemical buffer and shelter the hard carbonate mollusks provide. For these reasons, such accumulations contain valuable records of not only shellfish consumption and ecology but also a variety of other archaeological materials that would not be preserved otherwise.