Archaeological Deposits Research Articles

Simulating the impact of ground surface morphology on archaeological orientation patterning

The orientation of artifacts and faunal remains within archaeological deposits are useful for understanding past processes that led to the formation of these deposits. This is because post-depositional processes move clasts in particular ways, causing non-random patterning in clast orientation arrangements. On the other hand, when assemblages exhibit a randomly distributed bearing orientation and minimal tilt, it is commonly assumed that the remains are of a primary depositional context with limited influence from taphonomic mechanisms. Yet, this null expectation about in situ artifact orientation is seldom demonstrated empirically. In this study, we develop a GIS simulation approach to model artifact discard on real-world surfaces of distinct terrain and slope morphologies. Our findings demonstrate that an uneven ground surface relief can cause in situ discards to have a more variable plunge orientation arrangement. Using the Upper Paleolithic site of Shuidonggou Locality 2 as a case study, we show that the horizontally distributed artifact ‘layers’ at the site exhibit orientation profiles that are consistent with the simulated outcome. This finding suggests the possibility of using archaeological orientation patterning as a proxy for past ground surface relief and morphologies.

Identification of prehistoric malting and partial grain germination from starch granules in charred barley grains

This paper presents results from a study of starch granules in charred archaeological grains with the purpose of identifying markers of malting. Starch granules are microstructures from plant organs that can be identified to the level of plant genus based on their shape and size. Starch granules have been extracted from archaeological deposits. However, surprisingly few studies have focused on identifying starch granules preserved in the actual cereal grains. This study included experimental charring of modern cereal grains to investigate whether starch granules survive charring, as well as investigating an assemblage of charred barley grains from Danish archaeological excavations spanning the Early Neolithic (3900 BCE) to the Late Viking Age (1050 CE). We show that starch granule structures can be preserved in charred archaeological grains using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Three different types/phases of starch granule preservation in charred archaeological grains are observed: 1) separate granules, 2) partly plastisized granules and 3) fully plastisized granules. Two grains dated to the Viking Age (800 CE – 1050 CE) and 1st century CE (Roman Iron Age), respectively, had holes on the surface of their starch granule similar to those seen in malted/germinated barley (called amylolytic pores). Both grains were found in circumstances with other indications of malting activity. Another grain dated to 50 BCE (Pre-Roman Iron Age) also contained starch granules with amylolytic pores that marks the beginning of germination. However, this grain was found in a vessel of stored unthreshed grain in a grain storage basement and therefore is more likely to be an outcome of unintended germination. The identification of the germination process – accidental or deliberate – from starch granules in charred cereal grains means that we are now able to identify malting in prehistory from the cereal grains themselves, including naked grains, which has hitherto not been possible on morphological grounds.

San Bartolomé de los Chaná:

Este artículo está dedicado a hacer una reseña sobre el final del sitio La Boca (Departamento de San Jerónimo, Provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina). La destrucción lateral de la terraza en donde estuvo emplazada la reducción franciscana de San Bartolomé de los Chaná por una bajante extraordinaria del río Coronda, uno de los brazos del río Paraná en su Delta inferior, afectó el depósito arqueológico que contenía una potente distribución cerámica indígena y europea así como distintos elementos que documentaban su existencia. El final de un sitio arqueológico es siempre una posibilidad materialmente sustantiva pero cuando efectivamente ocurre es necesario un análisis reflexivo centralizado en sus implicaciones tanto teóricas como prácticas.

First evidence of Pleistocene ochre production from bacteriogenic iron oxides. A case study of the Upper Palaeolithic site at the San Teodoro Cave (Sicily, Italy)

The use of iron pigments is well documented in the archaeological horizons of the different parts of the world since the Middle Pleistocene. The mineralogical and chemical composition of the pigments allowed defining, in most cases, their inorganic origin, which were then used after a limited transformation and manipulation. The use of a biogenic ochraceous pigment and its manipulation has recently been described in a late Holocene archaeological horizon of the American continent.Here we describe the earliest case of archaeological use of ferrous pigment produced by iron-oxidising bacteria (FeOB), the first identified in a European Epigravettian (late Upper Palaeolithic) layer, at the San Teodoro site in Sicily, Italy. Samples of the ochraceous archaeological deposit, overlying a large burial site, were analysed according to current methods of physical analysis and SEM highlighting a matrix of bacterial structures and a chemical composition coherent with biogenic productions. The physical-chemical analysis of the archaeological material from the Palaeolithic site, and of the modern bacteriogenic iron sediments from two close springs gave consistent results even after heat treatment. In absence of Terra Rossa or other easily available inorganic ferrous materials in the hinterland of their site, the hunter-gatherers identified several possible water sources rich of pigment used for covering a multiple burial.The implications of these results influence interpretations of the ecology of the late-glacial and Epigravettian sites in Europe, especially in relation to problems such as the increasing complexity of behaviours, the need to establish rituals and the search for materials.

A method for the taphonomic assessment of bone tools using 3D surface texture analysis of bone microtopography

Increasingly researchers have employed confocal microscopy and 3D surface texture analysis to assess bone surface modifications in an effort to understand ancient behavior. However, quantitative comparisons between the surfaces of purported archaeological bone tools and experimentally manufactured and used bones are complicated by taphonomic processes affecting ancient bone. Nonetheless, it may be reasonable to assume that bones within the same deposits are altered similarly and thus these alterations are quantifiable. Here we show how unworked bones can be used to quantify the taphonomic effect on bone surfaces and how this effect can then be controlled for and incorporated into an analysis for evaluating the modified surfaces of purported bone tools. To assess the baseline taphonomy of Middle Paleolithic archaeological deposits associated with typologically identified bone artifacts, specifically lissoirs, we directly compare the surface textures of ancient and modern unworked ribs. We then compare the ancient unworked ribs and lissoirs to assess their differences and predict the ancient artifacts’ original surface state using a multilevel multivariate Bayesian model. Our findings demonstrate that three of five tested surface texture parameters (Sa, Spc, and IsT) are useful for distinguishing surface type. Our model predictions show that lissoirs tend to be less rough, have more rounded surface peaks, and exhibit more directionally oriented surfaces. These characteristics are likely due to anthropogenic modifications and would have been more pronounced at deposition. Quantifying taphonomic alterations moves us one step closer to accurately assessing how bone artifacts were made and used in the ancient past.

A trans-holocene approach to assess maritime development on the California Channel Islands archipelago: A case study from Eel Point, San Clemente island

The Channel Islands of California have received much attention from researchers, in part, due to the long occupation history of the islands that spans at least 13,000 years. The Northern Channel Islands have played an important role in our understanding of early coastal adaptations and development of complexity among maritime adapted peoples; however, this is only part of the picture. The Southern Channel Islands, located approximately 90 km south of the Northern Channel Islands, have a similar occupational history to their northern counterparts, but exist in a very different environmental and geographic context. Occupants on each island would have faced marine and terrestrial environments that could be vastly different based on issues such as fluctuating sea temperatures, fresh water accessibility, and plant, animal, and marine shell seasonality. The coastal adaptations along all the Channel Islands reflected these differences. Understanding variation on the Channel Islands archipelago can be realized by comparing and contrasting multiple types of environmental and material data from trans-Holocene sites, archaeological deposits that present continuous data sequences over a wide time span of the Holocene. One such site from San Clemente Island in the southern portion of the archipelago is Eel Point. Previous excavations at this site resulted in a rich array of cultural material; however, recent research has shown major portions of the collections have not yet been processed, are unanalyzed, or are under-analyzed. Specifically the groundstone and archaeobotanical assemblages have not been comprehensively analyzed or reported on, but are integral to understanding not only subsistence strategies, but also technological development and island paleo and historical ecology. These data form the basis for an inter-island comparative approach to understand long-term human-environmental interactions and impacts to ancient ecosystems on the Channel Islands archipelago. This study focuses on leveraging these under-analyzed and unanalyzed data to present on the variation in adaptions on the archipelago and to demonstrate the relevance of multi-island studies for considering the cultural impacts of climatic change in Mediterranean environments.

The diet of osprey Pandion haliaetus on Marawah Island (Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates) and its implications for the study of archaeological assemblages

The Osprey Pandion haliaetus is one of the most widely distributed raptor species in the world, present on all continents except Antarctica. Since its diet is mainly based on fish, this raptor is typically encountered close both to marine and fresh waters. Ospreys are well represented in the Arabian Peninsula where remote islands are the location for some of their key breeding sites. On Marawah Island (Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), ospreys have been reported to build nests on top of abandoned man-made structures, including archaeological sites. The discovery of fish remains associated with numerous bird bones and eggshell fragments in archaeological deposits raises the question of the potential contamination of ancient faunal accumulations by birds of prey. To date, the possible impact of ospreys on zooarchaeological assemblages has been little considered and the taphonomic signature of this fish-eating raptor has never been described. However, ospreys are effective competitors to traditional and small-scale fisheries and should be considered as potential accumulators of fish remains on archaeological sites located close to water bodies. Indeed, zooarchaeological analyses demonstrate that fish had always played a major role in the daily subsistence of the ancient inhabitants of Marawah Island since the first traces of occupation dating back some 8000 years. The present study will enable researchers working in the region as well as in other geographical area to determine if ospreys are accumulation agents for fish remains on archaeological sites.The present diet assessment of ospreys allows us to specify the taphonomic signature of this raptor: targeted species are mainly medium to large-sized fish swimming just beneath the surface (e.g. needlefish and queenfish) and slow benthic fish occurring in shallow waters such as tripodfish, emperors, and groupers. Bone accumulations are almost entirely composed of skull elements, indicating specific discarding behaviours. Certain traces left on jaw bones, in particular maxillae, can also help to differentiate osprey accumulations from archaeological ones.

Fungal attack on archaeological wooden artefacts in the Arctic\u2014implications in a changing climate

Climate change is expected to accelerate the microbial degradation of the many extraordinary well-preserved organic archaeological deposits found in the Arctic. This could potentially lead to a major loss of wooden artefacts that are still buried within the region. Here, we carry out the first large-scale investigation of wood degradation within archaeological deposits in the Arctic. This is done based on wooden samples from 11 archaeological sites that are located along a climatic gradient in Western Greenland. Our results show that Ascomycota fungi are causing extensive soft rot decay at all sites regardless of climate and local environment, but the group is diverse and many of the species were only found once. Cadophora species known to cause soft rot in polar environments were the most abundant Ascomycota found and their occurrence in native wood samples underlines that they are present locally. Basidiomycota fungi were also present at all sites. In the majority of samples, however, these aggressive and potentially very damaging wood degraders have caused limited decay so far, probably due to unfavorable growth conditions. The presence of these wood degrading fungi suggests that archaeological wooden artefacts may become further endangered if climate change leads to more favorable growth conditions.

Fortificația Frumușicăi: un șanț de apărare din eneolitic la Bodești (jud. Neamț)

Archaeological investigations carried out between 2011 and 2013 verified and confirmed some of the previously known data regarding the prehistoric habitation from Bodeşti – Cetăţuia Frumuşica (in Eastern Romania, near Piatra Neamţ). The site preserves the remains of a Chalcolithic settlement with Cucuteni A, A-B and B layers as well as Early and Middle Bronze Age features. The dominant position of the plateau surrounded by steep slopes towards the north, west and south fully justifies the settlement choice of the first inhabitants. As the older archaeological researches returned unclear data regarding the man-made defences of the site, in 2013 we opened a trench to verify the layout of a hypothesized earthwork of the eastern side. A segment of a transverse ditch barring the point of the easiest access was uncovered here. The ditch is about 11 metres wide and more than 3.5 metres deep, cutting through the archaeological deposits, the clay subsoil and the underlying marl bedrock. The stratigraphic evidence as well as the artefacts retrieved from various depths indicate several filling sequences (with the most consistent occurring during Cucuteni A). Further cross-sections through this ditch are necessary in order to validate our data.

Epidemiological insights from a large-scale investigation of intestinal helminths in Medieval Europe.

Helminth infections are among the World Health Organization's top neglected diseases with significant impact in many Less Economically Developed Countries. Despite no longer being endemic in Europe, the widespread presence of helminth eggs in archaeological deposits indicates that helminths represented a considerable burden in past European populations. Prevalence of infection is a key epidemiological feature that would influence the elimination of endemic intestinal helminths, for example, low prevalence rates may have made it easier to eliminate these infections in Europe without the use of modern anthelminthic drugs. To determine historical prevalence rates we analysed 589 grave samples from 7 European sites dated between 680 and 1700 CE, identifying two soil transmitted nematodes (Ascaris spp. and Trichuris trichiura) at all locations, and two food derived cestodes (Diphyllobothrium latum and Taenia spp.) at 4 sites. The rates of nematode infection in the medieval populations (1.5 to 25.6% for T. trichiura; 9.3-42.9% for Ascaris spp.) were comparable to those reported within modern endemically infected populations. There was some evidence of higher levels of nematode infection in younger individuals but not at all sites. The genetic diversity of T. trichiura ITS-1 in single graves was variable but much lower than with communal medieval latrine deposits. The prevalence of food derived cestodes was much lower (1.0-9.9%) than the prevalence of nematodes. Interestingly, sites that contained Taenia spp. eggs also contained D. latum which may reflect local culinary practices. These data demonstrate the importance of helminth infections in Medieval Europe and provide a baseline for studies on the epidemiology of infection in historical and modern contexts. Since the prevalence of medieval STH infections mirror those in modern endemic countries the factors affecting STH decline in Europe may also inform modern intervention campaigns.

Nitrogen isotopes reveal high N retention in plants and soil of old Norse and Inuit deposits along a wet-dry arctic fjord transect in Greenland

Plant growth in the Arctic is often nutrient limited due to temperature constraints on decomposition and low atmospheric input of nitrogen (N). Local hotspots of nutrient enrichment found in up to 4000-year-old archaeological deposits can be used to explore the recycling and long-term retention of nutrients in arctic ecosystems. We investigated old Inuit and Norse deposits (known as middens) and adjacent tundra ecosystems along a wet-dry fjord gradient in western Greenland to explore the isotopic fingerprinting of plant and soil carbon and nitrogen (13C/12C and 15N/14N) derived from human presence. At all locations we observed a significant isotopic fingerprint in soil and plant N related to human deposits. This demonstrates a century-long legacy of past human habitation on plant and soil characteristics and indicates a surprisingly high N retention in these ecosystems. This is consistent with the significantly higher plant biomass in areas with archaeological deposits. Vegetation composition and N in plants and soils displayed marked differences along the wet-dry fjord gradient. Furthermore, the profound nutrient enrichment and organic matter accumulation in archaeological deposits compared to surrounding tundra demonstrates a century-long legacy of past habitation on plant and soil characteristics as well as efficient N cycling with surprisingly limited N loss.

The archaeology of submerged prehistoric sites on the North Pacific Coast of North America

We review the history of underwater archaeological investigations of submerged prehistoric remains on the North Pacific Coast of North America, divided into three phases: Phase 1 (1960s–1981) – hypotheses and “wet-site archaeology”; Phase 2 (1981–1994) – operationalized scuba explorations of submerged anchor stone accumulations and the Montague Harbour Underwater Archaeology Project; and Phase 3 (1995–present) – refined modeling of regional sea beds for areas of high archaeological potential on submerged relict shorelines with limited testing and identification of late Pleistocene and early Holocene archaeological deposits on near-shore intertidal and interior upland strandlines. The latter part of Phase 3 also saw the potential for submerged prehistoric cultural resources integrated into consideration of development project assessments. Finally, the Coastal Migration Route for early migration to the Americas shifted from a peripheral proposition to a central complimentary paradigm. These multiple streams of theory, modeling, and pragmatic effort are poised to converge in a new era of practical underwater archaeological research on the North Pacific Coast.

Intertidal investigations of early Holocene archaeological deposits from the Núláwitxv tribal area, British Columbia, Canada

In 2016, 2017 an intertidal excavation program was conducted at the outer coastal archaeological site EkTb-9 in the Núláwitxv Tribal Area of Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk) territory, British Columbia, Canada. Haíɫzaqv oral history marks this area as a place of origin and longstanding ancestral histories (núyṃ́) have been derived from Núláwitxv. The sea level curve for this area shows that the shoreline was between two and 4 m lower than today from 14,000 to 10,500 years ago. Intertidal subsurface testing was conducted at EkTb-9 with the hope of discovering archaeological deposits of this age. This resulted in the collection of a varied assemblage of lithics from secondary deposits, representing the products of ancestral labour for the Haíɫzaqv community. The assemblage consists of simple flake and core tools, bifaces, and flakes and cores that generally resemble other early Holocene lithic assemblages from coastal sites in British Columbia. Minimum radiocarbon ages were obtained by dating barnacles found on artifacts, dating this area of the site to at least 9535 ± 25 B.P. (10,199–9714 cal B.P.), and demonstrating that intertidal lithic scatters can be assigned minimum ages. Critical to our understanding of the intertidal secondary deposits is a detailed knowledge of site formation processes and how these were affected by sea level change, erosion, and beach deposition. The results of this work provide a framework for approaching methodological challenges associated with excavating, dating, and interpreting intertidal archaeological sites.

Investigating Underfloor and Between Floor Deposits in Standing Buildings in Colonial Australia

Archaeological deposits build up inside standing buildings both under and between floors and these have the potential to provide considerable information about human behavior in the past. Under and between floor spaces provide a unique depositional environment that allow the survival of rare and fragile organic materials that typically do not survive in other archaeological contexts, including paper, cardboard, fabric and other fibres, seeds, leather, and human hair and skin cells. However, they require a clear understanding of depositional processes to allow their interpretation. Experimental archaeology was conducted to understand the process of artifact deposition and the interpretation of underfloor deposits in twelve standing buildings in Western Australia. Floors were built and a range of artifacts swept across them to determine how artifacts travelled across floorboards or fell through gaps between boards. Size, shape, and angularity of artifacts were key determinants of the likelihood of deposition. Sweeping activity makes it more likely that material will be deposited around the margins of rooms, and particularly, to either side of doorways. Underfloor deposits excavated from two specific Western Australian buildings, Ellensbrook Homestead, and the York Residency Museum, are interpreted based on the results of these experiments.

Integrating Point Process Models, Evolutionary Ecology and Traditional Knowledge Improves Landscape Archaeology—A Case from Southwest Madagascar

Landscape archaeology has a long history of using predictive models to improve our knowledge of extant archaeological features around the world. Important advancements in spatial statistics, however, have been slow to enter archaeological predictive modeling. Point process models (PPMs), in particular, offer a powerful solution to explicitly model both first- and second-order properties of a point pattern. Here, we use PPMs to refine a recently developed remote sensing-based predictive algorithm applied to the archaeological record of Madagascar’s southwestern coast. This initial remote sensing model resulted in an 80% true positive rate, rapidly expanding our understanding of the archaeological record of this region. Despite the model’s success rate, it yielded a substantial number (~20%) of false positive results. In this paper, we develop a series of PPMs to improve the accuracy of this model in predicting the location of archaeological deposits in southwest Madagascar. We illustrate how PPMs, traditional ecological knowledge, remote sensing, and fieldwork can be used iteratively to improve the accuracy of predictive models and enhance interpretations of the archaeological record. We use an explicit behavioral ecology theoretical framework to formulate and test hypotheses utilizing spatial modeling methods. Our modeling process can be replicated by archaeologists around the world to assist in fieldwork logistics and planning.

Cooking with corals: The Bahamas experiments

Burned and fractured corals are common in Bahamian archaeological deposits. Although corals were used as tools and ornaments, no one has addressed why they might have been burned. We consider the possibility that the indigenous Bahamians practiced “stone boiling” as a method of food preparation. In this regard, coral cobbles provide an excellent medium. We discuss the general features of stone boiling, and describe a series of experiments we conducted to evaluate the characteristics of thermally altered corals. We conclude that coral fragments produced in our experiments substantially match those observed in archaeological samples. We infer that coral boiling was one of several methods used to process foods in the pre-Columbian Caribbean.

The effect of heat on keratin and implications for the archaeological record

A horncore feature was encountered during excavations at Border Cave, in Member 2 BSL, dated 60–49 ka. The basal half of the horncore lay towards the centre of a combustion feature and was calcined. The tip half lay on a mat of burnt grass bedding towards the edge of the fireplace. It was covered with a black shiny residue, which was also present on nearby stone tools. The feature was jacketed and excavated later under a microscope in the laboratory. Raman spectroscopy identified the residue only as amorphous carbon, indicating the presence of a heated organic substance. Knowing that variation exists in modern and archaeological glue recipes, we wanted to know if the black residue was melted keratin, and if it was, whether it had been used as a substitute for beeswax or latex for hafting. We set out to test the hypothesis by conducting a heating experiment with a modern sheathed horncore. Experimental results showed that keratin does not transform into viable glue when heated. Instead, it reduces immediately to a glassy brittle residue. Our finding strongly supports a scenario of incidental deposition of residue on the archaeological stone tools. Previous combustion experiments have shown that the sediment below a fire can reach 300+ °C through vertical heat transfer. This implies that horn sheaths in archaeological deposits, separated from overlying combustion features by thousands of years, can transform into a black residue that may deposit on nearby stone and bone tools.

Agent-Based Modeling, Scientific Reproducibility, and Taphonomy: A Successful Model Implementation Case Study

There is a growing use of agent-based model (ABM) simulations to reconstruct past human-environment interactions. ABMs are useful in that they offer scientists the opportunity to model processes and study phenomena and systems that may not be otherwise reproducible or testable. Replication or re-implementation studies of ABMs are, however, infrequently undertaken, and there are few examples within archaeology or other social sciences. This paper documents the process of a successful ABM replication study, as well as two additional modifications to the original model. Results corroborate the findings of the original geoarchaeological model and indicate that episodic geomorphic events significantly affect archaeological deposit formation and the inferences drawn from associated radiocarbon records. One revision of the model further demonstrates that episodic fluvial events can create highly varied radiocarbon distributions. The second modification illustrates that excavation data helps to fill in hiatuses in radiocarbon chronologies on depositional landforms, although there is no effect across landscapes subject to erosion. This successful replication exercise also illustrates the value of Open Access data and analyses in reproducing, testing, and expanding upon archaeological research and theory building.

BYZANTINE GLAZED CERAMICS OF THE 13th CENTURY IN THE CRIMEA (short review)

Despite political and military upheaval in Byzantium in the 13th century, the most important of which were the conquest of Constantinople and the central territories of the empire by the Latins in 1204, and then the restoration of the state and the return of the capital by Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261, the manufacture of marketable glazed tableware on its historical territory had not stopped. Moreover, delivery of this ceramic into the territory of the Crimea also continued. This was largely due to the new owners of the maritime market — Italian merchants, first Venetians, and then Genoese, who were active participants of the political and military conflicts in the Eastern Mediterranean and Byzantium. At the same time, the composition of the imported ceramic was not stable. Finds from well-dated archaeological deposits known from the excavations of archaeological sites in the Crimea, as well as the surrounding area, provide the information as for the volume of the Byzantine import and changes in the imported pottery assemblage during the 13th century. First of all, these are the cultural remains with the layers of fire and destruction on the territory of the medieval towns in southern and south-western Crimea with the coins of 1250—1260s; shipwreck near the Novy Svet village south-west to Sudak, which wrecked not earlier than 1260—1270s; two pits in the harbor part of Soldaia / Sudak with coins of the 1266 and 1270s, which, according to stratigraphy, were filled after the mentioned catastrophe; sites in south-eastern Crimea with coins of the last quarter of the 13th — early 14th century, so on. Correlation of data from these contexts leads to the following conclusions. 1. Quantity of Byzantine ceramics imported into Crimea during the 13th century was quite significant. It accounts for up to 70 % and more of the ceramics assemblages. 2. The range of glazed ware remained approximately the same from the beginning until the middle — third quarter of the 13th century. The MBP (mainly «Incised Sgraffito Ware», less often «Champlevй» and others); GWW with monochrome green glaze as well as green and brown painted variants; «Zeuxippus Ware» (class IА&II) prevailed. 3. Since the last third of the 13th century less elegant and cheaper vessels («Sgraffito with Concentric Circles», jugs with stripes of white engobe) from different workshops, which in large quantities arise on the Byzantine and surrounding lands, start to come to the Crimea and Northern Black Sea Region. Their activities were stimulated by the intensification of maritime trade and the growing demand for cheap glazed pottery. 4. Cessation of some groups of import, especially MBP from Chalcis, may be due to the ousting of the Venetians from the Crimean market and their temporary difficulties with novation in the Black Sea after 1261. At the same time, the sales crisis could lead to the decline of some large pottery centers and to the emergence of new focused on more promising trading intermediaries, which the Genoese became.

Exploring shell midden formation through tapho-chronometric tools: A case study from Beagle Channel, Argentina

Time resolution of shell middens is normally addressed through estimation of shell accumulation rates, where calculations are based on radiocarbon analysis. Density values by volume or discard rates by time units are also normally estimated for comparative purposes. In this paper, we support the idea that time has many measurable properties in archaeological deposits. These can be used as tapho-chronometric tools (e.g., bone weathering, shell fragmentation, soil formation, etc.) to identify differential time-averaging in shell midden formation, and to evaluate their archaeological implications regarding the material record. One site in the Beagle Channel, Argentina, was chosen to (a) demonstrate how different processes that interact in shell midden formation can provide information on temporal resolution and (b) discuss the implications of the time-averaged properties of shell middens for different analytical approaches and methodological pathways. Results show that several factors involved in the formation of mounds should be addressed prior to advancing interpretations about different behavioral aspects of the past: a) shell deposits do not necessarily represent a gradual accumulation of waste; b) these middens can represent occupations of varied duration that are expressed independently of both the thickness of the deposit and the rate of accumulation of the material; c) the formation of shell middens includes the actions of several cultural and natural processes that occur over variable time spans; d) re-occupations modify the shell deposits produced by previous occupations in the same location. Finally, we argue that to explore shell middens as time-averaged records helps to clarify distinctive aspects of mound formation, which in turn have significant effects on archaeological interpretations.