diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5b042c3..7d53c12 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,23 @@ All notable changes to Scrollcase are documented here. The format follows
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [1.2.0] — 2026-09-12
+
+### Added
+
+- **`assetArchives` accepts an uncompressed `tar`.** The format was `zip` or `tar.gz` only, so a
+  publisher who ships a plain tarball — the usual choice when every member inside is already
+  compressed, and a second pass would cost minutes to save nothing — could not be consumed at all.
+  The archive is listed, validated and expanded through the same code as `tar.gz`; the only thing
+  missing was permission to say so.
+
+  Compression is now left to the library on read, which is what it was doing regardless: node-tar
+  reads the header and decompresses or not, and the `gzip` option applies to writing. A scroll's
+  `tar` / `tar.gz` distinction records what the author pinned, and the asset's SHA-256 holds them
+  to it.
+
+  Reported by a project whose model bundles 1.86 GB of pickled molecule definitions that way.
+
 ## [1.1.1] — 2026-09-11
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/docs/guides/managing-assets.md b/docs/guides/managing-assets.md
index 0749384..ebc5ecd 100644
--- a/docs/guides/managing-assets.md
+++ b/docs/guides/managing-assets.md
@@ -74,6 +74,9 @@ When the upstream artefact is a tarball or zip, declare it as an asset and then
 ]
 ```
 
+- `format` is `zip`, `tar` or `tar.gz`. Reach for `tar` when the publisher ships an uncompressed
+  tarball, which is the usual choice when its members are already compressed; it goes through the
+  same listing, validation and extraction as `tar.gz`.
 - Entries are listed and validated **before** extraction, so a malicious archive cannot write
   outside its destination.
 - `stripComponents` drops the redundant top-level wrapper directory many published archives
diff --git a/docs/public/schema/v3/scroll.schema.json b/docs/public/schema/v3/scroll.schema.json
index 94e3604..7ab3c28 100644
--- a/docs/public/schema/v3/scroll.schema.json
+++ b/docs/public/schema/v3/scroll.schema.json
@@ -201,8 +201,10 @@
           "format": {
             "enum": [
               "zip",
+              "tar",
               "tar.gz"
-            ]
+            ],
+            "description": "How the downloaded file is packed. `tar` is an uncompressed archive, which is what a publisher produces when the members are already compressed and a second pass would only cost time; it is validated and extracted exactly like `tar.gz`."
           },
           "destination": {
             "$ref": "#/$defs/payloadPath"
diff --git a/docs/reference/scroll.md b/docs/reference/scroll.md
index 48313bb..2bd54f3 100644
--- a/docs/reference/scroll.md
+++ b/docs/reference/scroll.md
@@ -598,7 +598,10 @@ refuses to overwrite them.
 ]
 ```
 
-`format` is `zip` or `tar.gz`. An archive is expanded at build time, so **it has no `embed` field**:
+`format` is `zip`, `tar` or `tar.gz`. `tar` is an uncompressed tarball — what a publisher ships when
+the members are already compressed and a second pass would only cost time — and it is listed,
+validated and expanded exactly like `tar.gz`. An archive is expanded at build time, so **it has no
+`embed` field**:
 "leave it out and let the caller fetch it" names nothing that could happen. Version 2 refused that
 combination with a cross-field check; version 3 makes it unspeakable.
 
diff --git a/docs/white-paper.md b/docs/white-paper.md
index e794912..7c11f57 100644
--- a/docs/white-paper.md
+++ b/docs/white-paper.md
@@ -1360,7 +1360,7 @@ The published package depends on three libraries and nothing else:
 
 | Package | Version | Role |
 | --- | --- | --- |
-| `tar` | 7.5.22 | Reads the conda-pack tarball into the payload; validates and extracts `tar.gz` scroll assets and toolchain archives |
+| `tar` | 7.5.22 | Reads the conda-pack tarball into the payload; validates and extracts `tar` and `tar.gz` scroll assets and toolchain archives |
 | `yauzl` | 3.4.0 | Reads and validates box ZIP archives |
 | `yazl` | 3.3.1 | Writes the deterministic box ZIP archive |
 
@@ -1411,9 +1411,11 @@ Link targets are read once during validation and reused during extraction, so a
 rewritten archive cannot pass the check with one value and extract with another.
 
 **`tar` — reading only.** Used to extract the conda-pack output into the payload, and to validate
-and extract `tar.gz` scroll assets and toolchain archives. TAR entries are validated before
+and extract `tar` and `tar.gz` scroll assets and toolchain archives. TAR entries are validated before
 extraction and the accepted types are `File`, `OldFile` and `Directory` only: links and special
-entries in a TAR are refused outright.
+entries in a TAR are refused outright. Compression is left to the library, which reads the header and
+decompresses or not accordingly; a scroll's `tar` / `tar.gz` distinction records what the author
+pinned, and the asset's SHA-256 is what holds them to it.
 
 One subtlety belongs here because it is not obvious from the code's shape. When extracting the
 conda-pack tarball, links are deliberately extracted in a **second pass**, after every regular entry
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 0d5b192..dc8da39 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "scrollcase",
-  "version": "1.1.1",
+  "version": "1.2.0",
   "lockfileVersion": 3,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "scrollcase",
-      "version": "1.1.1",
+      "version": "1.2.0",
       "license": "Apache-2.0",
       "dependencies": {
         "tar": "7.5.22",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6f7b437..4e8dbb7 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "scrollcase",
-  "version": "1.1.1",
+  "version": "1.2.0",
   "schemaVersion": "3",
   "description": "Pack an entire Python environment and the code it runs into a single, self-contained, portable and signed box.",
   "license": "Apache-2.0",
diff --git a/src/build/archive.d.mts b/src/build/archive.d.mts
index 73a1aa2..620aa85 100644
--- a/src/build/archive.d.mts
+++ b/src/build/archive.d.mts
@@ -74,9 +74,9 @@ export function extractZipArchive(archivePath: string, destination: string): Pro
  * Extracts scroll assets using only pinned Node archive implementations.
  *
  * @param {string} archivePath
- * @param {'zip' | 'tar.gz'} format
+ * @param {'zip' | 'tar' | 'tar.gz'} format
  * @param {string} destination
  * @param {number} [stripComponents]
  * @returns {Promise<void>}
  */
-export function extractScrollArchive(archivePath: string, format: "zip" | "tar.gz", destination: string, stripComponents?: number): Promise<void>;
+export function extractScrollArchive(archivePath: string, format: "zip" | "tar" | "tar.gz", destination: string, stripComponents?: number): Promise<void>;
diff --git a/src/build/archive.mjs b/src/build/archive.mjs
index e34d111..4d2eb8c 100644
--- a/src/build/archive.mjs
+++ b/src/build/archive.mjs
@@ -353,12 +353,17 @@ export async function extractZipArchive(archivePath, destination) {
   await validateExtractedTree(destination, { allowLinks: true });
 }
 
-/** Lists TAR assets and rejects paths, links, and special entries before extraction. */
+/**
+ * Lists TAR assets and rejects paths, links, and special entries before extraction.
+ *
+ * Compression is not named here: node-tar reads the header and decompresses or not on its own, and
+ * the `gzip` option it takes applies to writing. The scroll's `tar` / `tar.gz` distinction is the
+ * author saying what they pinned, and the asset's SHA-256 is what makes that claim binding.
+ */
 async function validateTarArchive(archivePath) {
   let violation;
   await tar.t({
     file: archivePath,
-    gzip: true,
     strict: true,
     onentry(entry) {
       if (violation) return;
@@ -379,7 +384,7 @@ async function validateTarArchive(archivePath) {
  * Extracts scroll assets using only pinned Node archive implementations.
  *
  * @param {string} archivePath
- * @param {'zip' | 'tar.gz'} format
+ * @param {'zip' | 'tar' | 'tar.gz'} format
  * @param {string} destination
  * @param {number} [stripComponents]
  * @returns {Promise<void>}
@@ -389,12 +394,11 @@ export async function extractScrollArchive(archivePath, format, destination, str
   try {
     if (format === 'zip') {
       await extractZipArchive(archivePath, tempRoot);
-    } else if (format === 'tar.gz') {
+    } else if (format === 'tar' || format === 'tar.gz') {
       await validateTarArchive(archivePath);
       await tar.x({
         file: archivePath,
         cwd: tempRoot,
-        gzip: true,
         preservePaths: false,
         strict: true,
       });
diff --git a/src/contract/schema/scroll.schema.json b/src/contract/schema/scroll.schema.json
index 94e3604..7ab3c28 100644
--- a/src/contract/schema/scroll.schema.json
+++ b/src/contract/schema/scroll.schema.json
@@ -201,8 +201,10 @@
           "format": {
             "enum": [
               "zip",
+              "tar",
               "tar.gz"
-            ]
+            ],
+            "description": "How the downloaded file is packed. `tar` is an uncompressed archive, which is what a publisher produces when the members are already compressed and a second pass would only cost time; it is validated and extracted exactly like `tar.gz`."
           },
           "destination": {
             "$ref": "#/$defs/payloadPath"
diff --git a/src/contract/types/index.d.ts b/src/contract/types/index.d.ts
index a57cdcb..e3241e4 100644
--- a/src/contract/types/index.d.ts
+++ b/src/contract/types/index.d.ts
@@ -207,7 +207,10 @@ export interface BoxScroll {
    */
   assetArchives?: {
     relativePath: PayloadPath;
-    format: 'zip' | 'tar.gz';
+    /**
+     * How the downloaded file is packed. `tar` is an uncompressed archive, which is what a publisher produces when the members are already compressed and a second pass would only cost time; it is validated and extracted exactly like `tar.gz`.
+     */
+    format: 'zip' | 'tar' | 'tar.gz';
     destination: PayloadPath;
     stripComponents?: number;
     removeAfterExtract?: boolean;
diff --git a/tests/unit/archive-security.test.mjs b/tests/unit/archive-security.test.mjs
index 1498628..a272187 100644
--- a/tests/unit/archive-security.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/unit/archive-security.test.mjs
@@ -130,6 +130,30 @@ describe('archive boundaries', () => {
     expect(await fileExists(destination)).toBe(false);
   });
 
+  it('expands an uncompressed tarball, which a publisher of already-compressed members ships', async () => {
+    const root = await scratch();
+    const staging = join(root, 'staging');
+    await mkdir(join(staging, 'mols'), { recursive: true });
+    await writeFile(join(staging, 'mols', 'T9E.pkl'), 'bytes');
+    const archive = join(root, 'mols.tar');
+    await tar.c({ file: archive, cwd: staging, gzip: false }, ['mols']);
+    const destination = join(root, 'destination');
+    await extractScrollArchive(archive, 'tar', destination, 1);
+    expect(await collectFiles(destination)).toEqual(['T9E.pkl']);
+  });
+
+  it('applies the same entry rules to an uncompressed tarball as to a compressed one', async () => {
+    const root = await scratch();
+    const staging = join(root, 'staging');
+    await mkdir(staging);
+    await writeFile(join(staging, 'target'), 'bytes');
+    await symlink('target', join(staging, 'link'));
+    const archive = join(root, 'link.tar');
+    await tar.c({ file: archive, cwd: staging, gzip: false }, ['link']);
+    await expect(extractScrollArchive(archive, 'tar', join(root, 'destination')))
+      .rejects.toThrow(/links and special entries/);
+  });
+
   it('orders files by raw path strings rather than host collation', async () => {
     const root = await scratch();
     for (const name of ['a', '_', 'B']) await writeFile(join(root, name), name);