Meanings
plural kitchen middens
- archaeologyAn ancient refuse heap composed primarily of domestic waste from daily meals, such as animal bones, mollusc shells, charcoal, and broken tools.
The chief food of the people was evidently shell-fish, since great heaps of the shells had accumulated in the shallow water between the houses and the land, forming a regular "kitchen-midden" for the exploration of some future archeologist.
1869, Alfred Russel Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, volume II, London: Macmillan and Co., page 358
Synonyms & antonyms
noun(archeology) a mound of domestic refuse containing shells and animal bones marking the site of a prehistoric settlement
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Cite this entry
kitchen midden. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kitchen%20midden
“kitchen midden.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kitchen%20midden. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “kitchen midden,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/kitchen%20midden.
Source: kitchen midden on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.