kitchen midden

noun

1. a mound consisting of shells of edible mollusks and other refuse, marking the site of a prehistoric human habitation.

kitchen midden

noun

1. archaeol the site of a large mound of domestic refuse marking a prehistoric settlement: usually including bones, potsherds, seashells, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of kitchen midden¹

1860–65; translation of Danish kökkenmödding

Example Sentences

Sir Banas, he comes in the night and makes them all alive at the back of our kitchen-midden,' piped the child.

From Project Gutenberg

Whether they be remnants of an elevated sea-beach, or of some Indian ‘kitchen-midden,’ I dare not decide.

From Project Gutenberg

From the kitchen-midden to the pinnacle of all that is great to-day extends a chain not a link of which is weak.

From Project Gutenberg

Finally on the Whitby coast on the south side of the abbey a huge kitchen-midden was discovered.

From Project Gutenberg

In many places the kitchen midden accumulations were so obvious that it was impossible to ignore them entirely.

From Project Gutenberg