The findings provide glimpses into how astronauts adapt to life and conduct research without gravity and how they use their space for work and leisure while in orbit, and more.

Led by archaeologists Associate Professor Alice Gorman from Flinders University and Professor Justin Walsh of Chapman University in California, the International Space Station Archaeological Project adapted the traditional archaeological test pit for a space setting, launching the project onto the ISS in 2022.

While Earth-bound archaeologists dig one-metre squares to understand a site and strategise further study, the ISSAP team had the astronauts use adhesive tape to define one-metre areas of the International Space Station and document them with daily photographs to study how the spaces were used over 60 days.

The squares were placed in a handful of work and leisure locations on the space station, including a US galley table, workstations, experimental EXPRESS racks and on the wall across from the latrine.

The authors say the findings demonstrate how traditional archaeological techniques can be adapted to study remote or extreme habitats and gives a unique insight into how astronauts adapt to space, in a way that may not be captured by interviews with the crew.