In archaeology, a tell or tel (borrowed into English from Arabic: تَل‎, tall, 'mound' or 'small hill'), is an artificial topographical feature, a species of mound consisting of the stratified debris from the accumulated refuse of generations of people who once formed a settlement and dwelt on the same site. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with sloping sides and a flat, mesa-like top. They can be more than 43 m (141 ft) high.