Bioarchaeological research integrates methods from diverse disciplines – archaeology, biology, chemistry, and computational sciences – to reconstruct past human lifeways and environmental interactions. The integration of different disciplines generates complex workflows and data ecosystems. The purpose of this manual is to document these processes, thereby creating a description of best practices accessible to PaleoMIX project members and the wider academic community. Specifically, the manual aims to:
Provide guidelines for managing and documenting archaeological and biomolecular data from fieldwork (sampling) to laboratory analysis and computational modelling.
Describe data flows from sampling, documentation, to analysis, and dissemination to ensure data consistency within the research group and in external collaboration.
Offer guidelines for planning cross-disciplinary biomolecular research.
Enhance collaboration between field archaeologists, museum curators, laboratory scientists, data analysts, and computational specialists.
Promote open science principles and facilitate the dissemination of high-quality, reusable data and reliable, reproducible, and interoperable bioarchaeological research outputs.
Serve as an evolving educational and reference resource tailored to current and future research projects.
Promote ethical research on heritage objects.
This manual is structured as a wiki for continuous cooperative development and adaptation to meet emerging research needs and technological advances.
This manual is primarily intended for bio(molecular) archaeologists, museum curators, laboratory analysts, computational researchers, database developers, and students. It provides main workflows for handling various biomolecular data types, including DNA, proteins, stable isotopes, lipids, microfossils, and radiocarbon dates. This manual unifies key bioarchaeological workflows to support collaboration across methods and disciplines.
The manual is mostly based on the implementation of PaleoMIX Open Archaeological Database (O.A.D.) within the archaeological data platform of the Archaeology Department of the University of Tartu (ARHUT). It closely aligns with the PaleoMIX Data Management Plan, adhering to the FAIR data principles – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Method-specific lab protocols are stored externally but hyperlinked within the manual for easy access.