The Carlston Annis Shell Mound (designated 15 BT 5) is a prominent archaeological site in the western part of the U.S. state of Kentucky.

Because it lies in the river's floodplain, the mound is the highest point in the area; its top is typically dry even though the surrounding terrain be flooded.

It occupies a dark loamy soil, although the edges of the mound are covered by a substantially lighter loam with mixtures of sand and clay.

[3]: 353  When the area was first settled in the early nineteenth century, the floodplain was recognized as valuable farmland, and because the mound is an island during floods, settlers saw it as a place of refuge; for most of the time since whites arrived, farmsteads have occupied its summit.

The shells extend down from the surface by 7.5 feet (2.3 m) from the center; the difference between the heights is the result of floods since the midden was created, which have deposited multiple layers of earth around the base.

Initial surveys found minimal damage to the site: a well had been dug into the center, and the surface was slightly affected by the foundations of buildings on the top,[3]: 269  and neighbors from miles around were frequently digging from the edge to procure shells for use as chicken feed.

[3]: 269  The initial excavation produced evidence of 129 different features:[3]: 271 This concentration of features was comparable to what had previously been found at other Archaic period shell middens in the region, demonstrating the similarity of the builders to other regional peoples: they lived in the vicinity, ate substantial numbers of shellfish, used the site as a trash heap for the shells, and buried their dead in the midden.

[3]: 290  While earlier publications' analyses were based largely on the presence of these embedded projectile points, more recent scholars have found evidence that bodies were injured in other fashions, such as by clubbing, and injuries that produce no effect upon the skeleton may also have been responsible for some of the deaths.

[4]: 115 Beside bodies and objects associated with them, the excavation found a total of 19,733 artifacts, which were made from the following materials:[3]: 296 Additionally, the top of the mound produced 65 sherds of prehistoric pottery.

[3]: 351 In April 1986, the Carlston Annis Shell Mound was listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its archaeological importance.