Loomis and Young— iShell Heaps of Maine. 19 



feet, where the depth of shells was about two feet ; the second 

 making a cut through the center of the heap, and covering 

 over 2800 square feet, where the depth was about five feet. 



The method used in working the heap was to plot out the 

 surface in sections five feet wide, and as each section was 

 worked, every find (of a tooth, tool, bit of pottery, etc.) was 

 recorded, both as to its horizontal position and vertical depth. 

 Everything with which man had anything to do was saved, 

 except the shells and ashes. In this way the relative as well 

 as the actual abundance of every article in the heaps was 

 recorded.* Sections of the heap were plotted from time to 

 time. The material from Sawyer's Island heap includes 1040 

 finds, each with an individal record, representing, of course, 

 several times that number of bones. This material is the basis 

 of the discussion of conditions on Sawyer's Island, and is sup- 

 plemented by about three times as much from other heaps, 

 where collections were made for comparison, and to give a 

 basis for generalizations. Beside these, the collections above 

 mentioned have been examined in order to make a check on 

 any generalizations. 



The character of any heap varies at different places and 

 levels, but the following may be taken as a tj'pical section : 



No. 1. Sod with shells in the grass roots.. 3" 



2. Shells with small amount of ash. . _ 14 



3. Ashes with some shells 3 



4. Clear shells _ 4 



5. Ashes with some shells 4 



6. Shells with small amount of ash ... 14 



7. Clear ashes 6 



Total earth 48 inches of 



shell heap. 



No two sections are exactly alike, but everywhere there was 

 the basal layer of ashes, and always the banded character of 

 the material. In layers 2, 3, 5, and 6 the shells were very 

 much broken up, apparently due to the tramping and building 

 of fires on them. Where the shells were but little broken, and 

 free from ashes, they would seem to indicate rapid accumu- 

 lation, and offered but little in the line of finds. Under the 

 heaps we found very few indications of the pits which are 

 described as characteristic of the heaps along Long Island,f or 



* In each case a recorded find indicates a tool, an animal eaten by the 

 Indians, a pottery vessel, etc. Thus the record of an animal is based on the 

 presence of a jaw, crushed fragments of bone, or single bones, though 

 recorded, not being included in the enumerations. A score of fish vertebra? 

 may indicate but a single individual, so in enumerating, the count is based 

 on the number of premaxillae. In the case of pottery fragments each assem- 

 blage of fragments is enumerated as one find. 



f Alanson Skinner, American Museum Leaflet, No. 29, 1909. 



