The history of geoarchaeology in Basel goes back to the beginnings of the Laboratory for Prehistory. Starting in 1953, Prof. Elisabeth Schmid, pioneer of sediment analysis in archaeological sites, built up a tradition that has now passed into the 3rd generation and has been expanded by numerous methods.

In archaeological soundings and excavations, the expertise of geoarchaeology is increasingly being used to interpret the layers. For this purpose, the cleaned profiles or surface features are first reviewed, documented geoarchaeologically/soil science and assessed together with the local archaeologists. Depending on requirements and questions, classic sediment samples and block samples are taken for subsequent laboratory analyses.

In addition to geochemical and granulometric investigations, the focal area of the geoarchaeology department at the University of Basel since the 1990s has been micromorphology; an optical method of investigating loose sediments and archaeological cultural layers in the macro- and microscopic range.