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Animal bone, faeces, shell, rotten food, vermin, broken pottery and other artefacts and ecofacts can all find their way into middens and they therefore provide a useful resource for archaeologists who wish to study the diet and habits of past societies. Middens with damp, anaerobic conditions can preserve even delicate environmental remains and can be analysed for information regarding climate and seasonal use

The East Chisenbury midden is a famous example of a large dump, dating to the 1st millennium BC. Sited on Salisbury Plain in the United Kingdom, the midden mound contains discrete layers upon layers of flintchalk cliffs, Cape Arkona, Rugen Flint (or flintstone is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline silica rock with a glassy appearance. Flint is usually dark grey, blue, black, or deep brown in colour. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in chalks and li, charcoal, bones, pottery and excrement. It survives to a height of 2.5m and measures 140m in width despite 2,500 years of weathering. The accumulation is believed by some archaeologists to have a ritualA ritual is a formalised, predetermined set of symbolic actions generally performed in a particular environment at a regular, recurring interval. The set of actions that comprise a ritual often include, but are not limited to, such things as recitation, s basis, with organised deposition of produce and waste being suggested as an explanation for its size and longevity.

Shell middens are found in coastal zones in NorthNorth America is the third largest continent in area and the fourth ranked in population. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocea and South AmericaSouth America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. South America is situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It became attached to North America only recently, geologically speaking, wi, AustralasiaAustralasia is the area that includes Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and the many smaller islands in the vicinity, most of which are the eastern part of Indonesia. The name was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres austr and elsewhere. Consisting mostly of mollusc shells they are interpreted as being the waste products of meals eaten by nomadic groups or hunting parties. Some are small examples relating to meals had by a handful of individuals, others are many metres in length and width and represent centuries of shell deposition. In BrazilThis article is about Brazil, the country. For other article subjects named Brazil see Brazil (disambiguation). The Federative Republic of Brazil Republica Federativa do Brasil in Portuguese) is the largest and most populous country in South America. they are known as sambaquis , having been created over a long period between the 6th millennium BC7th millennium BC 6th millennium BC 5th millennium BC other millennia) Events Agriculture appears in the valley of the Nile Rice cultivated in Asia Wheel and plough invented circa 5600 BC According to the Black Sea deluge theory, the Black Sea floods with and the beginning of European colonisation.