Something I remembered beachcombing yesterday, shell middens are for looking, not digging
I took the kids beachcombing yesterday. It was high tide so there wasn’t much room to comb. But there were shell middens. Shell middens are essentially trash piles, but they are special trash piles. They are the remnants of a people’s past. Campsites, cooking, being, living. The piles of shells and other debris build up over time. A long time. The middens we saw were eroding onto the beach. The kids took shells that had already fallen out, but no digging was allowed. Why? Respect. Respect for the people. Respect for the past. Respect for those who came before us. I took some time to see if other interesting things were visible. I might have found a projectile point, but I’m not sure. Even if it was, it would still be there. Because I would have left it.
Tags: archaeology, shell middens
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