midden
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˈmɪdən/
- Specialized
:
madriguera
- "The place is like a midden, and I'm not dressed right."
- shell middens
- an ancient midden
- a midden heap
Examples
-
A few pockets of charcoal in the midden yielded radiocarbon dates of about 3,300 years ago.
Academic text (1995) -
Archaeologists discovered a large midden filled with animal bones and broken pottery.
-
How it found its way into a midden outside the workshops is still a mystery.
Academic text (2006) -
What types of objects might be part of a midden in Appalachia?
Academic text (1997) -
Scientists have found middens that are more than fifty thousand years old.
Fiction book (2000) -
At other sites, he found vehicle tracks through possible middens below cliff ruins.
Academic text (2007) -
Archaeologists study ancient human middens to learn how people lived.
Fiction book (2000) -
By closely examining midden contents, Lepofsky and her colleagues can see what's been missing.
Academic text (2011) -
Of the some 70,000 artifacts originally excavated from this midden, Chappell thinks a large number of ceramics were the most important.
Academic text (2011) -
Preliminary findings from middens in Hells Canyon, on the Idaho-Oregon border, corroborate the Columbia River results.
Academic text (1995)
Synonyms
3
2.4
A pile of garbage and old things people throw away
1
2.3
A large pile of things that people have thrown away
1
2.7
A pile of waste and old things
A heap of old shells, bones, and kitchen waste from people long ago
A pile of rubbish left outside in one place
Compounds
How Big
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word midden comes from an old word meaning 'dung' or 'refuse'. So a midden is literally a pile of rubbish or manure, like the shell and bone heaps archaeologists find, which is why we use it for ancient rubbish deposits.