Shell Mounds (Middens)

A shell midden or shell mound is an archaeological feature comprised mainly of mollusk shells.

Connected Sites

Site Rationale Link
Australian Convict Sites Old Government House - "shells from Aboriginal middens were used to strengthen household mortar"
Banc d'Arguin
Chinchorro Culture dense shell middens (AB ev)
Everglades "Shell mounds still exist today within the park, giving archaeologists and anthropologists evidence of the raw materials available to the indigenous people for tool construction" (Wiki)
Fraser Island
Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats "Shell mounds found in different locations along the coast provide evidence that fishing activities have taken place in the tidal flats for thousands of years. The tidal flats monitoring results show that traditional fishing activities have successfully maintained the tidal flat ecosystem in a balance that includes human processes." (Nomination text, p. 97)
Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago Soi Nhu culture
Island of Gorée "On Gorée there are four distinct deposits found through excavation and testing. The first kinds of deposition are located on the northwestern and western part of the island, and were typically three metres of domestic debris and shell midden."
Jomon Prehistoric Sites key features, especially pit dwellings and shell middens (AB ev)
Kakadu National Park
Namib Sand Sea At Sandwich Harbour and Sylvia Hill (nom file)
Neolithic Orkney Skara Brae
Rock Islands Remnants of midden deposits (AB ev)
Saloum Delta
Tasmanian Wilderness "illustrated through extensive and diverse Holocene shell middens" (Crit iv)

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