Vacuum freeze-drying of sediment cores: an optimised method for preserving archaeostratigraphic archives

The authors introduce an ongoing project that explores a solution for the long-term preservation of proxies in archaeological and geological sediment cores to protect unique palaeoenvironmental data. To prevent alterations of organic properties and/or fungal growth, the sediment cores are vacuum freeze-dried, allowing long-term storage at 55 per cent relative humidity (RH).