Abstract

During the past two decades, archaeological excavations on the central Maine coast have examined numerous shell midden sites. Normally, excavators have made detailed observations on midden structure, including stratigraphic and plan drawings. In general, however, the sites sampled represent a small number of components dating after c. 2,500 B.P. and the areas opened at the larger, more complex ones have not exceeded 5% of the n-tidden surface area. The Turner Farm site represents a qualitatively different case. Its numerous components, which date between c. 5,000 B.P. and the early historic period, present a uniquely long sequence of generally well stratified deposits. Furthermore, excavations carried out there between 1971 and 1978 were extensive, opening a total of 25% of the midden's surface area. Therefore, the Turner Farm excavation allows observations on long term midden formation processes that are not possible from smaller excavations at younger sites. These include factors influencing relative shell abundance, degree of shell fracturing, discreteness of horizontal patterning and post-depositional movement of artifacts.