Marine subsistence specialisation is a central theme in the archaeology of Oceania. Shell middens \nprovide the main material evidence for marine specialisation through food remains (e.g. bones \nand shells) and technology (e.g. fishhooks). For the most part, middens are considered domestic \nrefuse deposits and the byproduct of people living their daily lives. In contrast, sites such as houses \nand ritual structures are considered part of the built domain and architecture of settlements. \nOver the past decade or so, the role of refuse deposits as secular byproducts of society has been \nchallenged by the concepts of ‘ritual rubbish’ and ‘ceremonial trash’ (e.g. Hill 1995; Walker 1995; \nNeedham and Spence 1997; Chapman 2000; Cameron 2002; see also Hodder 1982:161). This \nreconceptualisation recognises the biographical and symbolic dimensions of ‘refuse’ and the \nembeddedness of midden materials in ritual behaviour, place-marking strategies, construction \nof cultural landscapes and maintenance of social identity. In Australia, appreciation is slowly \nemerging of the agency and symbolic value of domestic ‘refuse’ given monumental expression \nas curated mounds to inscribe landscapes with new and ongoing social meanings (e.g. Morrison \n2003; Bourke 2005; Hiscock and Faulkner 2006; see also Meehan 1982). In the 1980s, Barbara \nGhaleb (1990) pioneered Australian archaeological investigations into the ‘ceremonial’ and \n‘symbolic’ role of mounded midden deposits with her PhD research on the ‘old village’ site of \nGoemu on the island of Mabuyag, Zenadh Kes. Since Ghaleb’s research, Mabuyag has been the \nfocus of investigations into another type of ritual site constructed of food remains – dugong \nbone mounds (McNiven and Feldman 2003; McNiven and Bedingfield 2008). In light of new \ninsights into dugong bone mounds and ritual treatment of subsistence remains, this paper reexamines \nconceptualisation and identification of mounded midden deposits at Goemu, based \non excavations at the site by Harris and Ghaleb in 1985 and by us in 2005.
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