Miocene Fossil Found in Oregon Kitchen-Midden

Extract

One does not usually think of the American Indian as a paleontologist, although it is known that occasionally he did use fossils (vertebrate, invertebrate, and plant) for their presumed medical and magical values. I t is possible, however, that a fossil might have been collected and carried home simply because of the curiosity aroused by its resemblance to more familiar objects in nature. In this particular instance, the mental processes of the collector are not to be dug out of his rubbish heap.

On August 5, 1944, a number of biology students from Reed College, and other interested persons were digging in a kitchen-midden which is exposed for some 50 yards along the south bank of Fogarty Creek, Lincoln County, Oregon, just above the entrance of the creek into the ocean. The midden consists of a layer of mixed ash and shells 10-12 inches thick, marking an old campsite, now covered with brush and forest.