8) What is a midden?
A midden is a Native American trash pile, made up of shellfish, broken animal bones, pottery, and arrowheads. At a salt marsh, the pile will be mostly oyster shells, because lots of oysters grow in the marsh. Since the oysters were easy to find, the Timucua ate a lot of them.
Near a fresh water river, a Native midden will be mostly fresh water snail shells, because the snails were easy to find. Closer to the ocean, middens are made of coquina, clams, or whelks. The shells and bones of whatever the Timucua ate went in the trash midden (or landfill). When tools and pottery broke, they also went in the trash pile. We learn a lot about the Timucua by looking at their trash. We find out what animals they ate (by studying the trash bones) what kinds of bowls they made (from the broken pottery), and what kinds of tools they used (from broken points, knives, and axes). If you find a midden, you can be fairly sure that Native Americans lived there a long time ago.