A midden is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics, and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human occupation.
A closeup of a shell midden in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.
The Whaleback Shell Midden in Maine resulted from oyster harvesting from 200 BCE to 1000 CE.
The Turtle Mound shell midden, in Florida, is the largest on the US East Coast.
Squirrel midden, Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska
A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, trash dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, refuse was simply left in piles or thrown into pits; in archeology this is known as a midden.
One of several landfills used by Dryden, Ontario, Canada
Garbage dumped in the middle of a road in Karachi, Pakistan
Landfill operation in Hawaii. The area being filled is a single, well-defined "cell" and a protective landfill liner is in place (exposed on the left) to prevent contamination by leachates migrating downward through the underlying geological formation.
Waste disposal in Athens, Greece
