RELICS OF THE PAST.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19102, 22 February 1924, Page 4

RELICS OF THE PAST.

HUGE OYSTER SHEER MOUNDS, Ecasters who left a pile of oyster shells etui bones 400£t long and 30Tt high most have done ample justice to the edibles served to them. These are the dimensions of a single shell mound on the banks of the Damariscotta River, in Maine, where is situated the largest group of such mounds in the world. These mounds, wherever found, aro believed to be composed of the shells of bivalves thrown away after eating the fish itself; and where they form great masses, as in the present instances, they probably mark prehistoric feasting grounds, John I). Anderson, writing in the Dearborn Independent, says that some of the heaps are higher than, houses. They were there centuries bemore the British adventurers were exploring these shores. Close to the shores of the Damariscotta River, a short, broad tidal stream midway between the Kennebec and the Penobscot, we find the oyster shell mounds —ono much larger than any other in the world. Of course these arc not the only known shell mounds. Denmark has a groat number. There are others irr British Columbia and in Japan, and likewise in Florida, The largest heap in Maine outside of the Damariscotta region is on Boynton Point, in the town of La Moine. It has been estimated that there are at least 7,000,000 clam shells in that pile. But the mounds along the Damariscotta aro composed almost entirely of oyster shells. Investigation has proved that none of these mounds is natural. Every shell was brought there from a distance, and scientists who have examined the mounds agree that they are the remains of savage feasts, and began perhaps a thousand or mere years ago.