The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
The correct answer is the Neolithic period.
A midden is an archaeological term for a refuse heap or dunghill. While humans have created waste for their entire existence, the practice of creating large, localized middens became most common during the Neolithic period, which began around 10,000 BCE. This era is defined by the Neolithic Revolution, a fundamental transformation in human society marked by the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles to settled agricultural communities.
Before this period, mobile groups of people would simply leave their waste behind as they moved. However, with the advent of farming and the establishment of permanent villages, people began to live in one place for generations. This sedentary lifestyle meant that their domestic waste, such as food scraps, broken pottery, discarded tools, and ash from fires, accumulated in specific locations. These locations became middens, often situated on the edge of a settlement or in a designated pit.
For archaeologists, these Neolithic middens are invaluable sources of information. By carefully excavating the layers of a midden, they can reconstruct the diet, economy, and daily habits of ancient peoples. For example, the presence of animal bones and charred seeds reveals what they ate and cultivated, while shards of pottery and stone tool debris show their technological skills. Some of the most famous examples are shell middens, vast mounds of discarded mollusk shells, which provide clear evidence of coastal peoples’ reliance on marine resources.
While middens continued to be used in later historical periods, up to the development of modern municipal sanitation in the 19th century, the Neolithic is the period when their use became a defining and widespread characteristic of human settlement across the globe. It was the shift to a settled life that made the midden a common and necessary feature of nearly every village.
