#shell midden

[tinyurbanwilderness]

Such a shame.

[archaeologysucks]

I found a shell midden today. Middens are places where people in the past dumped their food waste. This one is a large deposit of shells (mainly clams) at the top of a sheer bluff overlooking a beach. Unfortunately, I could not get any good pictures on my phone, because of where it was located, but you can kind of see the narrow lighter band just below the dark topsoil in the top pic. The second pic shows some shells that had eroded out of the midden, and were lying below it.

[spectrometrie]

[pinkplasticprincess]

I be like “I know a place” then take you to a small archaeological site where I live to show you the shell middens and petroglyphs

[keithcurrypochy]

Native American Shell Midden

Florida’s coast was home to American Indians for thousands of years, living off the sea. Those cultures have left behind shell middens that give some insight into their lives. 

While I don’t know much about this midden, south of Shired Island is Shell Mound near Cedar Key. Archeologist have found that deposits at that site starting around 1500 BCE and the site was active until around 0 CE. These coastal cultures have been are often grouped with Timucuan Cultures but not much is known about these seaside dwellers. 

Shired Island

 Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge, FL