Topic summary
Shellmound
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Midden.
Examples
In the California San Francisco Bay Area, the Ohlone and Coast Miwok peoples built over 425 shell mounds over thousands of years. These mounds were used as burial sites, ceremonial places, cemeteries, and places of prayer. Some were later discovered by accident during construction, mining, or farming. The Emeryville Shellmound, located between Oakland and Berkeley, was estimated to be 60 feet high and 350 feet in diameter. It was demolished in 1924. The Huichuin mound, located in Berkeley, was 20 feet high and was the site of the first human settlement on the shores of San Francisco Bay. The West Berkeley and Ellis Landing mounds measured almost 200 meters in diameter and rose 9 meters above the shoreline.