Marty,

First you say a midden must be "intentional" yet it excludes "sheet 
middens" but somehow includes "proximate deposits" ... "within 
throwing distance from the house."  By my definition, the latter is a 
sheet midden.

Mark


>I agree that a consensus about ways of discussing middens is important,
>and with the study of more recent periods of history it will become
>increasingly essential. For the sake of discussion, this is how I
>describe historic middens. I'm curious to see what people have to add:
>
>My definition: a midden as defined archaeologically is an intentional
>localized deposit of refuse. This definition clearly excludes sheet
>refuse and redeposition in fill (both of which have their own stories to
>tell). By this definition "Midden" is a  term more useful in general
>descriptions such as those found in survey reports and site
>examinations. Once the work becomes more detailed, the term is really
>too general to be very useful in discussing the specific deposits.
>
>Form: One of numerous attributes that can be used to refine the
>description of a midden is its form. Common forms of domestic midden
>include:
>        surface middens (visible heaps of trash)
>        subsurface middens (detectable only by excavation)
>        in-fill middens (refuse deposited in a disused feature such as a
>privy, well, or cellar hole)
>        pit middens or trash-pits (deliberate excavations for burying
>refuse).
>
>Location: Another attribute that becomes increasingly important in
>post-1870 deposits is location:
>        Proximate deposits: those made near the residence (basically
>within throwing distance from the house). The location is chosen for
>ease of disposal. 
>        Remote deposits: These are far enough away from the residence to
>require bulk disposal. The location is chosen to get dangerous or
>unsightly materials out of the living area.
>
>Purpose: As Ron points out, a more important attribute of middens is
>their purpose. I found several distinct and identifiable purposes in the
>ones I have studied:
>        Kitchen deposits containing everday household refuse accumulated
>over time from frequent small additions.         
>        Bulk kitchen deposits consisting of quantities of daily refuse
>(such as empty cans and condiment bottles) that were allowed to
>accumulate for a time before being carted away from the residence to be
>discarded in quantity elsewhere.
>        Renewal deposits, also generally discarded in bulk, most often
>resulting from clean-up and repair episodes between tenants or owners.
>These consist of attic and cellar cleanouts containing relatively whole
>items discarded as unwanted or obsolete, often accompanied by
>architectural repair items such as unused brick, tile or nails, paint
>cans, etc.
>        Demolition deposits derive from architectural demolition and
>containing exclusively used materials.
>
>  This is, of course begging the issue of specialized business-related
>middens, neighborhood ash dumps and a host of other types of midden.
>Anyone care to comment? Types to add? Different definitions?
>
>
>
>Martin Pickands
>New York State Museum
>
>>>>  [log in to unmask] 3/22/2007 1:43 PM >>>
>on 3/22/07 12:22 AM, geoff carver at [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
>>  Well: I was suggesting we include something about "purpose" in there:
>shell
>>  midden, sheet midden, kitchen midden
>>  Otherwise, everything that has waste in it could be called "midden"
>>  But obviously there are many ways to get lots of organic materials
>mixed
>>  with artifacts: cesspits, for example; somewhere in a pond or a marsh
>where
>>  everything settles after getting washed in...
>>  You might have a fill with a high organic content, but it wouldn't
>>  necessarily be a midden because it's original intent was to fill some
>space
>>  before building on it, and it only incidentally held organic
>material
>>  derived from its original source (difficult not having an
>archaeological
>>  equivalent to the geological concept of "provenance")
>>  Then again, the OED defines archaeology in terms of "excavation" & we
>do a
>>  lot of archaeology with GPR & aerial fotos these days, so... It
>ain't
>>  exactly the right source in cases like this
>>
>>  -----Original Message-----
>>  From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of
>Ron May
>>  Sent: March 22, 2007 09:09
>>  To: [log in to unmask]
>>  Subject: Re: Midden
>>
>>
>>  In a message dated 3/21/2007 11:57:43 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
>>  [log in to unmask] writes:
>>
>>  trash/waste used as fills, or even piles of garbage
>>  ("refuse"?) that  accumulate without any purpose...
>>
>>  Now I read that decomposed trash and garbage that accumulates in a
>soil
>>  (churned or otherwise) is also not eligible for classifying as
>midden. But,
>>  if the soil turns dark from decomposed organics and  is mixed with
>other
>>  cultural waste and is associated with a human activity, how can we
>define it
>>  as something other than midden?
>Listers -  I tend to call something a midden if it is amorphous but
>contains
>artifacts and/or natural remains that have been utilized by site
>occupants.
>But that said, thin and defuse middens became sheet refuse to me.
>Anything
>with all of the above that is more contained or somehow bounded becomes
>a
>pit.  If there are more definable artificial boundaries around it -
>brick,
>stone, &c - and it appears to have once had another function (well,
>cistern,
>privy, whatever) I tend to go with a "reused whatever."  My definitions
>are
>probably deeply influenced by prehistoric archaeology so you can feel
>free
>to attack them (but not me).  Whatever the case, these are all things
>that
>we deal with all the time that are more than the sum of their parts,
>and I
>think the discipline benefits from attempting to define what are
>typically
>taken-for-granteds....  This has opened an interesting thread.
>
>joe dent
>American University


-- 

Mark C. Branstner
Historic Archaeologist

Illinois Transportation
Archaeological Research Program
209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
23 East Stadium Drive
Champaign, IL 61820

Phone: 217.244.0892
Fax: 217.244.7458
Cell: 517.927.4556
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