Midden in Rosses Upper

At the W end of Rosses Point peninsula, located on a W-facing rocky slope at the N end of the small/south beach of Rosses Upper. The ground rises quite steeply in a grassy slope above the midden and drops to a sloping rocky surface below the midden. A thin layer of fragmentary oyster shells (L c. 6m N-S; max. D 0.05m) is visible in section, eroding out of the top of a layer of orange-brown boulder clay, which overlies bedrock. The shell layer is now overlain by a thin layer (D 0.1-0.15m) of dark orange-brown humic soil and sod, but appears originally have been within a sand dune or sand layer, now largely eroded away. The densest concentration (L 2m) of shells occurs towards the N end of the layer. To S of this the layer is visible intermittently, with meagre quantities of shell exposed. At its S end, the layer can be traced extending to E for c. 0.6m. The original extend of the midden is unclear; it seems likely that much of it has already eroded away. Two other middens (SL008-220----; SL008-203----) are located c. 9m and 20m to SE, respectively. Notified to NMS by Tamlyn McHugh Attached images: SL008-219----_01.JPG location of midden viewed from N SL008-219----_02.JPG viewed from W, showing N end of the midden SL008-219----_03.JPG detail of shells Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 26 July 2021