In a message dated 3/22/2007 2:54:34 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

This  excludes other types of things that do not meet all the criteria or 
cannot  demonstrate intent such as single episode dumps, incidental or 
natural  accumulations they term 'undirected refuse aggregations' or 
'refuse-rich  contexts'.



With reference to historical archaeology contexts, I am not sure you can  
exclude these categories of deposits from the definition of midden. I am  
thinking of shore whaling historic contexts in which a group of men of various  
ethnic backgrounds descend upon a plot of ground near the ocean, build a quick  
oven, and boil down blubber into oil to be sealed in casks and then whisked away  
for the next location. In a brief and single episode, the sand/soil can  
accumulate all manner of organic debris and ash to look for all the world like a  
prehistoric midden. What is more, there is reason to believe some of the 8,000 
 year old shell middens around here and in Baja California, Mexico were 
created  in a single episode by large groups of people.
 
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.



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