2026-05-08T08:15:06Zhttps://riubu.ubu.es/oai/request

oai:riubu.ubu.es:10259/115552026-04-30T00:05:46Zcom_10259.4_2560com_10259_5086com_10259_2604col_10259.4_2561

00925njm 22002777a 4500 dc Sandgathe, Dennis author Aldeias, Vera author Goldberg, Paul author McPherron, Shannon P. author Olszewski, Deborah I. author Abdolahzadeh, Aylar author Carrancho Alonso, Ángel author Cabanes, Dan author Gallo, Giulia author Guerin, Guillaume author Herrera-Herrera, Antonio V. author Li, Li author Mallol, Carolina author Río, Judit del author Papavasiliou, Dimitri author Stahlschmidt, Mareike author Steele, Teresa E. author 2026-04 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. 2520-8217 https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11555 10.1007/s41982-025-00253-y 2520-8217 Microarchaeology Micromorphology Middle Paleolithic Fire Pyrotechnology Vial Excavation: Microstratigraphic Excavation in the Laboratory - A Methodology for High Resolution Sampling and Integration of Data from Multiple Analytical Methods