What would you
say to the future?
Thousands of years ago, people left marks on cave walls that are still here today. We are building a physical archive so people today can leave a record of their own time.
The archive has not yet been sealed. It will open once, for people to add their messages, and then be sealed for good.
Almost everything on this timeline is younger than a handprint on a cave wall.
The archive is being designed to remain preserved and readable for a very long time.
That requires materials, locations and a way of recording information that do not depend on today's technology.
A record of
our time.
Much of the historical record comes from governments, institutions and other organisations that had the means to preserve records. The First Archive is intended to include ordinary people as well.
The First Archive is a physical record intended to include messages from people around the world. Each message would be preserved on archival media and placed at geological sites being evaluated for long-term preservation.
How you can be involved before the archive opens
Public participation has not opened yet. The work to prepare the archive is already underway. The archive will open once for participation and then be sealed.
Get notified when it opens.
Leave your email and we will notify you when registration opens.
Be notifiedPut a name forward.
If you know someone who has devoted their life to making life better for others or for humanity, you can recommend them for First Voices. You can also put your own story forward if you believe your work fits the purpose of First Voices.
Nominate a First VoiceContribute expertise.
Materials science, geology, heritage preservation, expedition logistics, archival work and other areas. Voluntary and consultative.
Offer expertiseWhat the archive will contain.
The First Archive will bring together several layers of information. Each has a different role, from individual messages to a record of the world at the beginning of the archive’s first decade and the Key used to understand the archive.
Together, these layers give future generations the messages and the context around them.
The Key
How a future reader can understand the archive.
Today's World
A conceptual record of Earth's people, societies and economic systems at the beginning of the archive’s first decade, giving future generations context for the archive.
First Voices and Guardians
First Voices is our way of recognising and thanking people who have devoted their lives to making life better for others and for humanity. Guardians contribute specialist knowledge to the project.
The Founders
Founders are the first people to place their own words into the archive. Each Founder contributes an individual message to the physical archive.
Physical Archive
The physical system used to record, protect and place the archive across multiple geological sites.
Write your message
As a Founder, your message can be about anything you want to leave as a record of your life and your time. It can be personal, practical, reflective, or simply a record of what life was like for you when you took part. There is no template, and your words are not edited or rewritten.
Recorded on archival media
Messages are prepared for the selected archival medium and incorporated into the physical archive as part of the fabrication process.
Placed at selected sites
The completed archive is placed at multiple geological sites. The deposition process will be recorded and made publicly available, while exact coordinates remain private.
A record of every deposition will be kept and made publicly available. Exact coordinates will be held by designated Custodians, such as public museums and other trusted institutions. This is intended to reduce the risk of accidental or deliberate disturbance.
Preserving the words is easier than preserving a reader's ability to understand them.
A future reader may have technology far beyond ours, or none at all. They may also share no language with us. The Key is intended to help them understand the archive without depending on today's language or digital systems.
So alongside the messages we are building the Key: a visual system designed to help a future reader understand the archive itself.
A mark the reader can check against something real.
Meaning fixed by depiction, beside a picture of the thing itself.
Larger ideas assembled from parts the reader already knows.
A line that can be read directly from the archival medium with simple magnification.
Multiple sites.
The archive is intended to be placed at more than one geologically separated location, chosen for measurable stability and isolation from human activity. Multiple sites increase the odds of both preservation and discovery.
We intend to keep a record of where every archive is placed, but keep the exact coordinates private. The public record will identify the general geography or type of site. The deposition process will be recorded and made publicly available where security permits. Exact coordinates will be held by designated Custodians. Fewer people knowing the exact position means less risk of the site being disturbed, by accident or otherwise.
First Voices is our way of recognising and thanking people who have devoted their lives to making life better for others and for humanity.
We preserve their stories so they can be remembered, and so future generations can learn from their lives and work.
Their work may also inspire future generations to contribute in their own way.
People whose lives and work have contributed to making life better for others and for humanity.
Stories preserved so future generations can learn from their lives and work.
Their stories will form the first part of the archive.
Recommend a First Voice.
If you know someone who has devoted their life to making a difference to others or to humanity, tell us about them.
You can also put your own story forward if you believe your work fits the purpose of First Voices. Every submission is reviewed.
How the archive is intended to be built
Selection and fabrication of the archival medium, informed by technical investigation and specialist review.
Environmental assessment, engineering and preparation of geological archive sites.
Physical transport and deposition of the archive, with the process recorded for public documentation without revealing exact coordinates.
Exact coordinates are intended to be held by designated Custodians. The public record will identify the general geography or type of site.
Independent expertise
The project is assembling specialist contributors across materials science, corrosion engineering, geology, cultural heritage, archival preservation and related fields.
People who contribute specialist knowledge to the project are recognised as Guardians. They contribute voluntarily and independently.
The archive is built by specialists.
Specialists contribute expertise on a voluntary, consultative basis, with no time commitment beyond what they choose to offer.
Volunteers who contribute are recognised as Guardians. The archive is planned to include a dedicated section for their names at the front of the physical record, separate from participant entries, recognising the expertise they contributed to how it was built.
Materials science · Corrosion engineering · Geology · Heritage preservation · Museum curation · UNESCO coordination · Archival science · Expedition logistics · Documentary film
Questions, answered plainly.
The First Archive is in its development and preparation phase. We are working on the archive design, preservation methods and other foundations needed before public participation opens.
Once participation opens, your message will be prepared for inclusion in the archive and preserved on the archival medium ultimately chosen for the project.
Yes. Our plan is to keep your message in the language you write it in, alongside the parts of the archive that help a future reader understand it see the next question about the Key. If the number of messages received is larger than the physical archive can hold in full, we may need to preserve only the encoded form for some messages; we will make this clear before participation opens.
Alongside the messages we are building the Key, a visual language a future reader can learn from the archive itself, without a shared language and without our assuming what technology they will have. It grounds meaning in pictures, builds larger ideas by combining them, and bridges to written languages last. Read about the Key.
Our aim is to create a record that can remain preserved and readable for many thousands of years. The materials and sites are being evaluated for their suitability for this purpose. We will publish what the available research supports rather than make a guaranteed lifespan claim. See the evaluation.
The archive is intended to be placed at more than one remote, geologically stable site. We will record the precise position of each, but the exact coordinates will not be published. The deposition process will be recorded and made publicly available where security permits. The coordinates are intended to be held by designated Custodians, while the public record identifies the general geography or type of site. How sites are chosen.
Anyone can put a name forward, including their own there is no application or panel. Tell us what the person built, and we review it before it is included.
Public participation opens once the foundation phase and core preservation design are established enough to support it. Leave your email below to be notified when registration begins.
Participation details, including whether there is a cost and what it covers, will be published in full when registration opens. Nominating a First Voice and offering expertise as a Guardian are free, and will remain free.
The Human Project LLC, Wyoming, USA, owns and operates The First Archive. The Human Project is a long-term initiative focused on preserving and connecting human stories, knowledge and contributions for future generations. Visit The Human Project.
Be the first to know.
Leave your email to be notified when the archive opens for participation.