A
midden (also
kitchen midden or
shell heap; from early Scandinavian; Danish: mødding, Swedish regional: mödding) is an old
dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal
bone,
human excrement,
botanical material,
vermin,
shells,
sherds,
lithics (especially
debitage), and other
artifacts and
ecofacts associated with past human occupation. The word is of
Scandinavian via
Middle English derivation, but is used by
archaeologists worldwide to describe any kind of feature containing waste products relating to day-to-day human life. They may be convenient, single-use pits created by
nomadic groups or long-term, designated dumps used by
sedentary communities that accumulate over several generations.