TERMIUM Plus®

The Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank.

KITCHEN-REFUSE HEAP [1 record]

Record 1 2020-11-18

English

Subject field(s)
  • Archaeology
  • Paleontology
DEF

A mound of shells, bones, and other refuse that accumulated at a site of prehistoric human habitation.

CONT

What is a "kitchen midden?" The first human group to arrive in a new land first had to find a protected dry spot with easy access to fresh water and food resources before it could settle down. Next to the village but more or less removed from the living area, a rubbish dump developed (bones from consumed animals, shells, etc). The dump grew, generation after generation, century after century, at a rate that has been estimated very roughly at around 20 cm (8 inches) per century. The little hill soon grows big enough to provide a convenient platform for a small village at its top. With people continuing to produce refuse at the top, the hill keeps growing, but perhaps at a slower rate.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Archéologie
  • Paléontologie
CONT

Sur le site de San Nicolás, les fouilles, malheureusement limitées par les difficultés d'accès, donnèrent des séries d'outils d'obsidienne finement taillés. De grands monticules de débris de cuisine ont été rencontrés à Punta de Lomas et à Chaviña et les parties basses de ces monticules sont vraisemblablement aussi pré-céramiques.

CONT

En France et à l’étranger subsistent des témoins des habitudes culinaires humaines pendant la préhistoire (buttes artificielles constituées de millions de coquilles d’huîtres appelées par les préhistoriens danois « amas de déchets de cuisine »).

OBS

Le terme danois «kjökkenmöddinger» signifie «tas de déchets de cuisine préhistoriques».

Spanish

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