Vial Excavation: Microstratigraphic Excavation in the Laboratory - A Methodology for High Resolution Sampling and Integration of Data from Multiple Analytical Methods
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Over the last decades, archaeology has been undergoing a revolution of sorts driven by advances in the archaeological sciences and the ability to extract data from sediments. These new methods work at the micro- or even molecular scale and thus require extremely high levels of precision for the context of the samples. While there have been significant advances in proveniencing techniques, by and large, basic excavation methods have hardly changed in half a century or more. We document excavations better, we save more things more systematically, and we move slower, but excavations are still primarily focused on the recovery of objects. In our experience, sampling for the archaeological sciences is shoehorned into the existing methodology. Here we describe an excavation methodology - vial-based excavation - that is instead designed from the start for the archaeological sciences and, in particular, to systematically collect the invisible components of the archaeological record. To do this, we remove intact blocks of sediment to a laboratory, employ a vacuum system for complete recovery of sediments, collect sediments as a large number of very small samples in glass vials, use micromorphology extensively to track micro-contexts, and use digital systems to document contexts efficiently. We applied this methodology to the investigation of fire residues in Layer 8 of the Middle Paleolithic site of Pech de l’Azé IV, France. Our purpose here is to share this methodology as a potentially useful companion to more traditional excavation methodologies.
Authors: Dennis Sandgathe, Vera Aldeias, Paul Goldberg, Shannon P. McPherron, Deborah I. Olszewski, Aylar Abdolahzadeh, Angel Carrancho, Dan Cabanes, Giulia Gallo, Guillaume Guerin, Antonio V. Herrera-Herrera, Li Li, Carolina Mallol, Judit del Río, Dimitri Papavasiliou, Mareike Stahlschmidt, Teresa E. Steele
Institutions: Simon Fraser University, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, University of Tübingen, University of Pennsylvania, Arizona State University, Universidad de Burgos, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Inserm, Collège de France, Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Biologie, Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés, Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès, University of California, Davis, Géosciences Rennes, Université Rennes 1, Université de Rennes, Universidad de La Laguna, University of Vienna
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
OpenAlex ID: W7147231889