14 



AMERICAN MUSEUM GUIDE LEAFLETS 



ments and ornaments that had been 

 carelessly lost in the rubbish or hidden 

 for safe-keeping are discovered. 



Shell-heaps vary from a few inches 

 to four feet in depth, and in area from 

 a few square yards to several acres 

 all depending on the length of time the 

 settlement was occupied and the 

 number of dwellings comprising it. 

 Deep shell-heaps are often divided into 



feet deep by three feet wide. It is sup- 

 posed that they were used as ovens or 

 steaming holes and afterwards filled 

 up with refuse. Some contain human 

 skeletons, which may have been inter- 

 red in them during the winter season 

 when grave digging was impossible. 

 These pits generally contain more of 

 interest than the ordinary shell-heap. 

 The closely packed regular masses of 





MAP GIVING THE LOCATIONS OF SHELL DEPOSITS. 

 Those marked ~ have been explored by the Museum. 



layers, the lowest of which are, of 

 course, the oldest. Under and near 

 most of these deposits may be found 

 scattered "pits" or fire holes, which 

 are bowl-shaped depressions in the 

 ground filled with layers of 

 stained earth, shells, and other refuse, 

 with an occasional layer of ashes. 

 Some pits are as large as ten feet wide 

 by six feet deep, but the average is four 



shells form a covering which tends to 

 preserve bone implements, charred 

 corn, and such perishable articles from 

 decay in a way that the looser shells of 

 the general layers fail to do. 



Shell-heaps, while abundant along 

 the seacoast, are seldom found inland, 

 except on salt creeks or other streams 

 having access to salt water. They 

 may be seen all along the east shore of 



