Encyclopedia Oyster Volume 2

---

Every six months or so, additional evidence emerges that further confirms the idea that coastal indigenous peoples relied on oysters. Moreover, the evidence is ancient and worldwide - linking the oyster to the human success story.

---

Middens are found along ancient and current coastlines and are never far from oyster-producing waters. One of several shells recently found on a private hunt club property in coastal North Carolina. The archeological findings not only put the shells at over 3,000 years old, but also noted a band of volcanic ash from an ancient Australian eruption.

The very first article of our very first newsletter introduced the term "middens." The term midden means "trash pile". Therefore, Oyster middens are piles of discarded oyster shells left over from human consumption that have been lost to time. Middens are often obscured from plain sight due to being buried over or by vegetative overgrowth but once you find them, they are unmistakable. This CNN article lists archeological middens with oysters harvested 1000s of years ago.

All of our midden history has been learned through online findings and research. An acquaintance recently put the Club as close to a personal experience as one can get. What follows is a personal note that was delivered with the photos shown on this page:

It is quite impressive how well these shells have held up over time. Obviously, the size of ancient oysters is impressive and what was likely more impressive is that there were acres of oysters this size. One can still find wild oysters that reach these historic sizes. See our other EOV post called "Size Matters."

Enclosed you will find the Currituck midden oyster shells we discussed. The midden/shells pre-date colonial history where it was used as back fill for a root cellar. The root cellar was initially dug about 1650. The structure that it served was gone around 1680. The cellar was then a hole in the ground and was used as a trash pit until around 1720. In thebox you will find larger shells but equally impressive to me is how these shells demonstrate a long life for these oysters.

Indeed, oysters in the wild can live 10-20 years. When conditions are ideal, oysters can live as long as 50 years and this would have been the case when these oysters were harvested thousands of years ago.

Check out our post, size matters.

The next time you are enjoying oysters with friends or family, remind yourself you are historic members of the longest-standing group culinary ritual on record.

Now there's a Club! 🦪

---

Ask an oyster question here for future Oyster Encyclopedia articles.