113 
AGE OF THE SHELL-HEAP 
The heap is considered to be prehistoric because only aboriginal 
artifacts were found in it. The occurrence of bones of the deer, an animal 
not recorded in Nova Scotia until 1888, and the fact that neither Lescarbot 
(circa 1610) 1 nor Denys (circa 1653) 2 , two of the earliest chroniclers, 
mention its presence in the country, indicates a considerable antiquity 
for the heap. The presence of two bones, in a fragmentary condition, 
which could only be identified as possibly those of a domestic pig or a 
young colt, does not affect the age, as the bones were probably recently 
introduced into the heap. 
RESOURCES OR MATERIALS USED BY THE PEOPLE 
Food. The heap was composed almost entirely of shells of the 
soft-shelled clam ( Mya arenaria ), but ten other varieties of sea-shells 
and three shells of the land snail (Helix hortensis Muller) were found. 
In order of abundance they are: scallop (Pecten magellanicus ), of which 
fifteen were found; razor clam (Ensis directus); hen clam (Spisula solidis- 
sima); oyster (Ostrea virginica); quahog (Venus mercenaria ); mussel 
(Mytilus edulis ), now abundant in the vicinity; moon shell (Lunatia heros ); 
rock purple or dog winkle (Purpura lapillus); waved whelk (Buccinum 
undatum); and a burnt fragment of a small, unidentified species of bivalve. 
The land snails may have been used as food, or they may be intrusive, 
though the shells have the same appearance of age as the other shells 
in the heap 3 . 
Among the shells and in the black layer at the bottom were found 
the bones of different animals used for food. Nearly all were more or 
less fragmentary, but otherwise fairly well preserved. All the larger 
shaft bones were broken, possibly for the sake of the marrow or to adapt 
them to the size of the pot in which they were boiled. A few of the bones 
were scorched by fire. 
The bones, teeth, and antlers have been identified as those of the 
following mammals, given in order of abundance : moose ( Alces americanus ); 
Virginia deer (Odocoileus americanus ), of the former presence of which 
here there is only archaeological evidence; beaver (Castor canadensis); 
otter (Lutra canadensis ); dog (Canis familiaris ); bear (Ursus americanus); 
harbour seal ( Phoca vitulina ); raccoon ( Procyon lotor ); lynx ( Lynx cana- 
densis); woodland caribou (Rangifer caribou ), apparently rare when the 
heap was formed, and it is represented by only a few doubtful remains; 
porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum); woodchuck (Marmota monax); muskrat 
(Ondatra zibethica); hare (Lepus sp.); wolf (Canis lycaon); and fisher 
( Maries pennanti ). 
Bones of several species of birds were found, only a few of which can 
be identified. These are of the loon (Gavia immer) and northern eider 
(Somateria mollissima ). 
1 Op. cit. 
3 Denys, Nicholas: “Description and Natural History of the Coasts of North America (Acadia)”; translated 
by W. F. Ganong, Publications of the Champlain Society (Toronto, 1908, vol. II). 
* Pee the writer's "Archaeology as an Aid to Zoology”, The Canadian Field-Naturalist, October, 1919, v * 
XXXIII, No. 4, p. 65. 
