One archaeologist's midden is another's shell mound - vanessa ...

study area and the new classificatory frame work developed for
distinguishing mounded and non‐mounded forms of shell middens.
The Blue Mud Bay Project and the anomalous site BMB/116
The Point Blane peninsula was the location of an extensive archaeological
investigation conducted under the auspices of The Blue Mud Bay Project (BMBP)
(Clarke and Faulkner 2003). The major research aim of the BMBP was to identify
Aboriginal resource use and occupation systems during the late Holocene, and
specifically the last 3,000 years (Clarke and Faulkner 2003:4). Prior to the
commencement of the BMBP in 2000 no archaeological work has been undertaken
in this region of Arnhem Land. An extensive field survey of the study area
identified and recorded 141 sites, producing a distinct pattern of shell mounds
located along the wetland margins of the peninsula. Due to its determined status
as an archaeological anomaly in the study area, test excavation of BMB/116 was
undertaken (Clarke and Faulkner 2003). The present study represents the first
investigation of the archaeological assemblage excavated from BMB/116, and
provides a new contribution to the Blue Mud Bay project.
Research Rationale
The archaeological literature review undertaken as part of this study demonstrated
the existence of a considerable degree of confusion for defining or distinguishing
mounded middens; or shell mounds, and non‐mounded forms of shell middens in
Australian contexts. This inherent inconsistency in archaeological field
methodology implies a lack of clarity and consistency in the classification of
cultural shell deposits. This is significant because research based on the application
of consistent site classification criteria is perhaps the most direct way to elucidate
variation in the archaeological record (Claassen 1991:11 cites Shenkel 1974).
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