Where the land dips and the shoreline becomes indented, a dark band of earth is visible within the dune face, sitting between thirty and fifty centimetres below the surface. Running for roughly forty-seven metres where it is currently exposed, this is a midden, the compressed remnant of what people once ate, discarded, and left behind. Middens are essentially ancient rubbish heaps, accumulations of shellfish remains, animal bone, charcoal, and other domestic debris that build up over time at the edges of settled or seasonally occupied places. They are, in a quiet way, some of the most direct records we have of everyday coastal life.

The deposit here reaches up to eighty centimetres thick at its deepest point and contains limpet, periwinkle, and oyster shells, along with what appear to be flecks of charcoal. The charcoal hints at fire, possibly cooking, possibly some other domestic or craft activity nearby. Oysters, limpets, and periwinkles were all staple foods along the western Irish coast for long periods, gathered from rocks at low tide and requiring little more than a fire and time to prepare. The midden at Fínis was brought to wider attention in April 2014, when Erin Gibbons flagged its presence. A storm beach lies at the base of the dunes, a reminder that this stretch of coastline is not static; the same Atlantic weather that has eroded the dune face and exposed the deposit is also, over time, the force most likely to destroy what remains of it.