Tutorial:Archaeology
Archaeology is a mechanic in Minecraft where the player can excavate structures, brush off suspicious blocks, and obtain old loot. It is the only way to obtain sherds and four types of smithing templates.
Archaeology Mechanics Edit
Some naturally generated structures can contain suspicious blocks. These come in the form of suspicious sand and suspicious gravel. Depending on where they are found, these blocks contain various loot, which can be extracted from the block with a brush. These can be crafted with a feather, copper ingot, and stick. Using the brush on a suspicious block for five seconds gives loot, while destroying the suspicious block gives nothing.
| Ingredients | [hide]Crafting recipe |
|---|---|
| Feather + Copper Ingot + Stick |
    |
Excavating Trail Ruins Edit
Trail ruins appear in taiga, snowy taiga, old growth spruce taiga, old growth pine taiga, old growth birch forest, and the jungle, so you should look for them in any of those biomes. Their vibrant colors of terracotta would stand out from the wood and leaves, making them harder to miss. Jungles, with their erratic terrain, are more likely to have exposed trail ruins, although the jungle's thick foliage may make them harder to spot from afar.
Most likely, all you will see of a trail ruins is the top of a building. Dig around the building until you find a road of cobblestone, gravel, and dirt. This road will touch every other building in the structure, making it much easier to find them than if you tried to mine every block in the area.
Extreme attention should be paid for the suspicious blocks. They are very fragile, breaking instantly when falling down, moved by a piston, and even left-clicked on by any other shovel higher than an unenchanted iron one. Unless you are very careful by yourself, having a normal iron shovel may help prevent accidentally destroying them. Bring in light sources to light up the area or use Night Vision potions; it is way easier to differentiate suspicious blocks from the normal ones than in the dark. Use your brush to extract the loot from the suspicious blocks right after you find one; do not mine any block before completing the brush or you risk losing the potential rewards. If you are going to mine out a block, make sure above it is not a suspicious block.
Other Structures Edit
Suspicious blocks can also be found in ocean ruins, desert pyramids, and desert wells, having their own unique sherds for themselves. Suspicious sand in warm ocean ruins is the only initial source of sniffer eggs.
