I too am intrigued by the various definitions of the word "midden" among  our 
practitioners. Clearly, there are many schools of thought and teaching on  
the matter. I find myself learning more all the time, as only the day  before 
yesterday I would have considered a layer of broken things and paper to  be a 
trash layer, and not a midden. Today, I have learned  that others define "being 
knee-deep in paper  trash" as midden (a condition I often find myself when 
composing  reports). Silly me, before today, I considered decomposed organics and 
 soil to be an essential ingredient into the midden "stew" (midden,  being in 
a state or process of decay). Now I find that certain kinds  of features are 
excluded from being labeled a midden; privies, for example. I  wonder if 
"night soil" is prerequisite for distinguishing middens from  privies?
 
I look forward to the next installment of "Mysteries of the Midden."
 
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.



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