542 



SHELL-HEAPS 



[B. A. E. 



feet or more. Though sometimes ap- 

 proximately homogeneous throughout, 

 there are generally evidences of stratifi- 

 cation in the greater deposits, and la5^ers 

 of earth and other refuse are intercalated 

 with the shells. In some cases the lower 

 strata are in an advanced stage of decay, 

 indicating the lapse of a long period of 

 time since their deposition. 



The cultural contents of the normal 

 middens furnish a very striking record of 

 the arts and industries, habits, and cus- 

 toms of the tribes concerned in their accu- 

 mulation. Ordinary implements of stone, 

 bone, shell, wood, and metal are embed- 

 ded with the shells, and it is not unu- 

 sual to encounter at various levels traces 

 of ancient lodge sites, each marked by a 

 central fireplace encircled by accumula- 

 tions of dark earth and ridges of shell 

 refuse. Lodge-site depressions are also 

 traceable on the surface of the heaps 

 where the plow has not effaced them. It 

 is observed that in some of the deposits re- 

 mains of art are rare or apparently absent, 

 while in others of equal size and possibly 

 greater antiquity artifacts are plentiful. 

 Fragmentary earthenware is abundant in 

 many of the heaps of eastern United States 

 and usually corresponds somewhat closely 

 with that of the village sites of the general 

 region; but in the salt-water accumula- 

 tions the pottery is often exceptionally 

 rude in make. This may be measurably 

 accounted for on the theory that the 

 shell-heap sites were in many cases not 

 permanent abodes and that inferior ves- 

 sels were constructed for local and tem- 

 porary use. 



The shell-heaps of New England, New 

 Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince 

 Edward id. are numerous and cover con- 

 siderable areas, but usually have no great 

 depth. (See reninsitlnr ShellmouwJ, 

 WJtaleback Shellmouud.) They contain 

 shells of several varieties, including the 

 oyster to a limited extent, the common 

 clam {Mya arenarla), the quahog ( Venus 

 mercenaria), the scalloj), the mussel, the 

 cockle, the whelk, and other varieties 

 (Chase, Mercer, Morse, Ran, Wyman). 

 The deposits include vast numbers of the 

 simple implements, utensils (including 

 some pottery), and ornaments of the 

 tribes, and these are well represented in 

 the collections of the Peabody Museum, 

 the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, and the National Museum. The 

 theory that the Eskimo formerly occupied 

 the coast as far s. as Maine has led to 

 the search for definite traces of this people 

 in the shell-heaps, but so far no decisive 

 evidence has been obtained. The shell- 

 heaps of New York and New Jersey 

 closely resemble those of New England, 

 and have been described by Abbott, 

 Leidy, Ran, and Tooker. Those of Mary- 



land, Virginia, and the Carolinas are nu- 

 merous and extensive. The oyster-shell 

 deposits at Popes cr. on the Potomac, for 

 example, cover 30 acres or more, and were 

 15 ft in depth over a considerable area 

 before the removal of shells for fertilizing 

 purposes began (Holmes, Reynolds). 

 Equally important deposits occur along 

 the shores of the Chesapeake, as at Still 

 pond, on the eastern shore (Jordan). A 

 mound situated on Stallings id. in the 

 Savannah r., below Augusta, Ga., affords 

 an excellent illustration of the use of 

 midden deposits in the construction of 

 burial mounds. It is described as 15 ft 

 in height and 120 by 300 ft in horizontal 

 extent; as consisting of mussel, clam, and 

 snail (Paludina) shells, and as containing 

 hundreds of skeletons deposited in suc- 

 cessive layers (C. C. Jones). The shell- 

 heaps of the Georgia coast are not par- 

 ticularly noteworthy, but the coast of 

 Florida abounds in "these deposits, those 

 at Turtle mound, Charlotte Harbor, and 

 Cedar Keys being of gigantic proportions. 

 Those along the Atlantic coast of the 

 peninsula are composed chiefly of oyster 

 shells; but on thew. coast, besides the oys- 

 ter there are several genera of the conchs, 

 including Busycon, Strombus, Fulgur, Fas- 

 ciolaria, and other shells f Brinton, Gush- 

 ing, Moore, Wyman). One mound on 

 Tampa bay is upward of 30 ft in height 

 and covers an island of 8 acres in extent. 

 The deposits of the northern margin of 

 the gulf, in Louisiana and Mississippi, 

 described by Foster, Lyell, Moore, Van- 

 uxem, and others, include, besides the 

 oyster, particularly the clam [Gnathodom 

 cuneatus). 



The inland fresh-water shell-heaps of 

 Florida are composed of distinct genera 

 of shells — Ampullaria, Paludina, Unio, 

 etc. On St Johns r. a fresh-water snail 

 (Vivipara georgiana) is everywhere the 

 principal, and in many cases the almost 

 exclusive, species. Many of the depos- 

 its are of great size, although they are 

 accumulations of kitchen refuse pure 

 and simple. The mound at Bluffton 

 has 30 acres of shells and reaches a 

 height of 25 ft above the river level 

 (Moore). Mount Taylor and others are 

 of nearly equal importance. All contain 

 examples of such artifacts of stone, shell, 

 bone, and metal as were used 1iy the shell- 

 heap people. Stoneimplementsare rather 

 rare, and pottery occurs in considerable 

 quantities in most of the deposits, espe- 

 cially on and near the surface. Many of 

 the shell-heaps, especially of Florida, pre- 

 sent the appearance of great age, and the 

 growth on them of live oaks of the largest 

 size indicates that the deposits had reached 

 their present dimensions before, perhaps 

 long before, the discovery of America. It 

 is also noted that the shells at the lower 



