journals.plos.org - Archaeology in space: The Sampling Quadrangle Assemblages Research Experiment (SQuARE) on the International Space Station. Report 1: Squares 03 and 05 | PLOS ONE

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Between January and March 2022, crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) performed the first archaeological fieldwork in space, the Sampling Quadrangle Assemblages Research Experiment (SQuARE). The experiment aimed to: (1) develop a new understanding of how humans adapt to life in an environmental context for which we are not evolutionarily adapted, using evidence from the observation of material culture; (2) identify disjunctions between planned and actual usage of facilities on a space station; (3) develop and test techniques that enable archaeological research at a distance; and (4) demonstrate the relevance of social science methods and perspectives for improving life in space. In this article, we describe our methodology, which involves a creative re-imagining of a long-standing sampling practice for the characterization of a site, the shovel test pit. The ISS crew marked out six sample locations (“squares”) around the ISS and documented them through daily photography over a 60-day period. Here we present the results from two of the six squares: an equipment maintenance area, and an area near exercise equipment and the latrine. Using the photographs and an innovative webtool, we identified 5,438 instances of items, labeling them by type and function. We then performed chronological analyses to determine how the documented areas were actually used. Our results show differences between intended and actual use, with storage the most common function of the maintenance area, and personal hygiene activities most common in an undesignated area near locations for exercise and waste.

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Archaeology in space: The Sampling Quadrangle Assemblages Research Experiment (SQuARE) on the International Space Station. Report 1: Squares 03 and 05 | PLOS ONE Skip to main content Advertisement PLOS ONE Publish Submissions Getting Started Submission Guidelines Figures Tables Supporting Information LaTeX What We Publish Preprints Revising Your Manuscript Submit Now Calls for Papers Policies Best Practices in Research Reporting Human Subjects Research Animal Research Competing Interests Disclosure of Funding Sources Licenses and Copyright Data Availability Complementary Research Materials, Software and Code Sharing Ethical Publishing Practice Authorship Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions Manuscript Review and Publication Criteria for Publication Editorial and Peer Review Process Editor Center Resources for Editors Guidelines for Reviewers Accepted Manuscripts Comments Submit Your Manuscript Discover a faster, simpler path to publishing in a high-quality journal. PLOS ONE promises fair, rigorous peer review, broad scope, and wide readership – a perfect fit for your research every time. Learn More Submit Now About Why Publish with PLOS ONE Journal Information Staff Editors Editorial Board Section Editors Advisory Groups Find and Read Articles Publishing Information Publication Fees Press and Media Contact Browse Search Search advanced search Browse Subject Areas ? Click through the PLOS taxonomy to find articles in your field. For more information about PLOS Subject Areas, click here. Loading metrics Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article Archaeology in space: The Sampling Quadrangle Assemblages Research Experiment (SQuARE) on the International Space Station. Report 1: Squares 03 and 05 Justin St. P. Walsh , Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Supervision, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing * E-mail: [email protected] Affiliations Department of Art, Chapman University, Orange, CA, United States of America, Space Engineering Research Center, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, United States of America https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2018-2668 ⨯ Shawn Graham, Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Software, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing Affiliation Department of History, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, United States of America https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2887-3554 ⨯ Alice C. Gorman, Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Methodology, Project administration, Supervision, Writing – review & editing Affiliation College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia ⨯ Chantal Brousseau, Roles Software, Writing – original

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