The archive is intended to be placed at more than one geologically separated location.
If one site is disturbed, the others carry the record forward.
Sites are being evaluated for measurable stability, isolation from human activity, and conditions suitable for long-term preservation. We favour remote, low-traffic settings away from monuments and protected heritage land, which reduces disturbance and keeps access and stewardship straightforward.
Selection criteria
Low seismic and tectonic activity.
Dry or frozen chemistry that slows corrosion.
Natural isolation from weather, flooding, and human traffic.
A location that remains physically accessible without depending entirely on records that may not survive.
Three classes of environment.
These are the classes of environment under evaluation. Each diagram shows the structural logic of a placement.
Hyper-arid desert plateau
Very high, very dry terrain where measurable rainfall is rare and soils are chemically inert. No vegetation and no burrowing life to disturb a buried object, on slow-moving, stable geology.
Stable cratonic cave system
Dry caves within an ancient, tectonically quiet continental shield. The surrounding rock has held for hundreds of thousands to millions of years, interior temperature and humidity can remain comparatively stable, and there is no dripping water or surface erosion.
High-arctic permafrost
Ground held continuously below freezing acts as a chemical deep-freeze that nearly halts corrosion. Set well above any plausible sea-level rise on stable shield bedrock, a sealed capsule is protected for a very long time.
We intend to keep a record of where every archive is placed.
We will not disclose those locations.
Each archive is intended to be placed at a remote, geologically stable location, with its exact position recorded to precise coordinates. The exact coordinates will remain private. The deposition process will be recorded and made publicly available where security permits. The public record will identify the general geography or type of site, while designated Custodians will hold the coordinates, Fewer people knowing the exact position means less risk of the site being disturbed, by accident or otherwise.
Our plan is to entrust the coordinates to trusted long-term custodians, such as museums and cultural institutions, so the record does not depend on a single organisation.
Keeping the coordinates private is one safeguard. Sites are also evaluated with long-term accessibility and recovery in mind.