For ceramic assemblages composed exclusively of sherds, inferences at the scale of artifact are often problematic. Drawing on information provided by experimental studies, observations can be made such that technology and use are expressed at the scale of assemblage. A simple classification is used to describe variation in paste composition for an assemblage of shell-tempered ceramics from southeast Missouri. Using these classes as a set of analytic units, variables reflecting on technology and use are examined. The analytic results suggest that while some coarse-shell ceramics may have been used preferentially for cooking vessels, the distinction between coarse and fine shell is not as straightforward as cooking vs. noncooking, and that coarse-shell pastes were used to manufacture vessels used in a wider range of contexts than fine-shell pastes. Furthermore, not all variation can be understood in terms of the mechanical or thermal properties usually emphasized in experimental studies.