Whaleback Shell Midden

Significant dates

Damariscotta Oyster Shell Heaps
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Entrance to state historic site
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Location	Damariscotta, Maine
Coordinates	44°02′31″N 69°30′47″W / 44.04194°N 69.51306°W / 44.04194; -69.51306Coordinates: 44°02′31″N 69°30′47″W / 44.04194°N 69.51306°W / 44.04194; -69.51306
Area	11 acres (4.5 ha)
Part of	Damariscotta Shell Midden Historic District (#98001238)
NRHP Reference #	69000027
Added to NRHP	December 30, 1969
Designated CP	October 8, 1998

Whaleback Shell Midden is a shell midden, or dump, consisting primarily of oyster shells located on the east side of the Damariscotta River in Maine, United States. It is preserved as a Maine state historic site and was included as part of the Damariscotta Oyster Shell Heaps listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. Other shell middens are located on the estuary in both Damariscotta and Newcastle.^[1] The middens in this area were formed over about 1,000 years between 200 BC to AD 1000.

The midden originally had three main layers of shells. In the bottom two layers, individual shells were generally 5–8 inches (10–20 cm) long. These two layers are separated by a layer of soil, and the middle layer is mixed with animal bones. The top layer contains smaller shells. Artifacts unearthed lead scientists to believe that successive tribes of prehistoric people used the area. The top layer was deposited by members of the Abenaki tribes that fished in the area in the summer.^[2]

Originally, the Whaleback midden was more than thirty feet deep, more than 1,650 feet in length, and a width varying from 1,320 to 1,650 feet. It got its name from its shape. Only a small portion of this midden remains today as much of it was processed into chicken feed from 1886 to 1891 by the Massachusetts-based Damariscotta Shell and Fertilizer company. Because of this, the Glidden midden, located across the river in Newcastle, is now the largest in Maine and the largest on the U.S. east coast north of Georgia.

State historic site

The area around the remains of the Whaleback is a Maine state historic site, first opened for a full season in 2005, with some historical displays and a hiking trail.^[3]^[4]

Oyster culturing

By 1875 oysters that were once abundant were no longer native to New England waters.^[5] Wild populations have been established in recent years by the spawn of aquaculture oysters.^[6]

Gallery

A gully running through the midden to the Damariscotta River.
Closeup of one of the thousand year old oyster shells.
The Glidden Shell Midden is located immediately across the Damariscotta River.

References

↑ "Damariscotta Shell Middens". Davistown Museum. Retrieved December 13, 2015. A compilation of articles and annotations on shell middens in the area.
↑ Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums (1970). Doris A. Isaacson, ed. Maine: A Guide 'Down East'. Rockland, Me.: Courier-Gazette, Inc. p. 258.
↑ "Whaleback Shell Midden". Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
↑ Hoey, Dennis (June 27, 2005). "Midden comes out of its shell". Outdoors, MaineToday.com. Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc. Archived from the original on May 15, 2006. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
↑ Drake, Samuel Adams (1875). Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast. New York: Harper & Brothers. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
↑ "Growing Areas". Glidden Point Oyster Sea Farm. Retrieved December 13, 2015.

External links

Whaleback Shell Midden Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

Protected areas of Maine

Federal

National Parks and Historic Sites	Acadia National Park Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument Saint Croix Island International Historic Site

National Wildlife Refuges	Aroostook Carlton Pond Waterfowl Production Area Cross Island Franklin Island Moosehorn Petit Manan Pond Island Rachel Carson Seal Island Sunkhaze Meadows

National Forests	White Mountain

National Trails	Appalachian Trail

National Estuarine Research Reserves	Wells

State

State Parks	Allagash Wilderness Waterway Aroostook Baxter Birch Point Bradbury Mountain Camden Hills Cobscook Bay Crescent Beach Damariscotta Lake Ferry Beach Fort Point Grafton Notch Holbrook Island Sanctuary Lake St. George Lamoine Lilly Bay Moose Point Mount Blue Peacock Beach Peaks-Kenny Penobscot River Corridor Popham Beach Quoddy Head Range Ponds Rangeley Lake Reid Roque Bluffs Shackford Head Sebago Lake Swans Falls Campground Swan Lake Two Lights Vaughan Woods Warren Island Wolfe's Neck Woods

State Historic Sites	Bible Point Colburn House Colonial Pemaquid Eagle Island Fort Baldwin Fort Edgecomb Fort Halifax Fort Kent Fort Knox Fort McClary Fort O'Brien John Paul Jones Katahdin Iron Works Mayall Mills Whaleback Shell Midden

State Forests	Durham State Forest

Maine Department of Conservation (web)

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

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