Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, VoL 4, No. 2, 1997 Accumulations Research: Problems and Prospects for Estimating Site Occupation Span Mark D. Varien I and Barbara J. Mills 2 Accumulations research examines the dynamic relationship among artifact discard, duration of occupation, and population size. The history of accumulations research is reviewed, emphasizing studies that use accumulation rates to measure site occupation span. Ethnoarchaeological and experimental research demonstrates that cooking pots are an ideal artifact type for accumulations research. Data from the Duckfoot site in southwestern Colorado are used to develop an annual accumulation rate of cooking pot sherds for households. This rate is used, along with population estimates and estimates of the total cooking pot sherd accumulation, to determine the occupation span of five sites located in the nearby Dolores River valley. KEY WORDS: archaeology; ethnoarchaeology; pottery use and discard; site occupation span. INTRODUCTION Accumulations studies are one facet of formation processes research. Such studies seek to understand why and how materials accumulate in the archaeological record, and the results can be used to address questions of general anthropological interest, thereby transcending the specific goal of understanding formation processes. Accumulations research began just af- ter the turn of the century (e.g., Nelson, 1909), and continues to be im- portant because it examines variables that are fundamental to understanding the archaeological record: the use and discard of artifacts, population size, and time. Researchers have manipulated these variables ICrow CanyonArchaeological Center, Cortez, Colorado 81321. 2Departmentof Anthropology, University of Arizona,Tucson,Arizona 85721. 141 1072-5369/97/W~(~-0141512,50JU 0 1997Plenum Publishing Corporation