Archaeology

Archaeology is a gameplay mechanic that allows the player to find items that represent historical artifacts inside suspicious sand and gravel blocks.^[1]^[2] This mechanic was originally intended to be part of the Caves & Cliffs update, but was delayed three times until finally being released as part of the Trails & Tales update.^[3]

Guide

Players can use a brush on suspicious sand (located in warm ocean ruins, desert pyramids, and desert wells) or suspicious gravel (located in cold ocean ruins and trail ruins). Players can discover and obtain artifacts and other loot, such as sticks, emeralds and pottery sherds, which can be used to craft decorated pots. If a suspicious block falls or is broken, the loot inside is lost.

Additions

Blocks

Decorated Pot

Can be crafted with any 4 pottery sherds or brick items, placed in a rhombus shape.
- The specific type of crafting material used determines which side of the resulting decorated pot shows a symbol.
  - The possible symbols are determined by the type of pottery sherd used to craft the pot.
  - Sides of the pot corresponding to bricks when crafted use a plain texture with no symbol.
Fragile and easy to break:
- If broken with any block-breaking tool, drops as its component materials.
- If broken without a tool, or using a tool with the Silk Touch enchantment, drops as itself.

Sniffer Egg

Only found from suspicious sand in warm ocean ruins.
Hatches into Snifflets.
Once two eggs are found, can be continuously obtained by breeding sniffers with torchflower seeds.

Suspicious Gravel

Generates in cold ocean ruins and trail ruins.
Brushing the suspicious gravel with a brush extracts items.

Suspicious Sand

Generates in desert temples, desert wells, and warm ocean ruins.
Brushing the suspicious sand with a brush extracts items.

Items

Brush

An item which can be used to brush suspicious blocks.
Can be crafted with a feather, copper ingot and stick.

Pottery Sherds

They have symbolic pictures on them.
Different structures contain different pottery sherds.
Contains 20 different variants.
They cannot be crafted and are only found by brushing suspicious blocks.

Relic Music Disc

World generation

Trail Ruins

A buried generated structure from a lost culture.
Generates in taigas, snowy taigas, old growth taigas (both types), old growth birch forests and jungles.
Comprised of a tower, a path across the bottom, and a few additional rooms attached to the side.
Contains gravel and suspicious gravel, as well as mud bricks and several colors of terracotta and glazed terracotta.
Four armor trims and seven pottery sherds can be found here.

Gameplay

The player can find items in suspicious sand or suspicious gravel inside of certain structures by using the brush.
- In desert pyramids, suspicious sand can contain a pottery sherd, TNT, gunpowder, an emerald or a diamond.
- In desert wells, suspicious sand can contain a pottery sherd, a brick, an emerald, a stick or suspicious stew.
- In warm ocean ruins, suspicious sand can contain a pottery sherd, a sniffer egg, an iron axe, an emerald, wheat, a wooden hoe, coal or a gold nugget.
- In cold ocean ruins, suspicious gravel can contain a pottery sherd, an iron axe, an emerald, wheat, a wooden hoe, coal, or a gold nugget.
- In trail ruins, suspicious gravel can contain a pottery sherd, an emerald, wheat, clay, a brick, dyes, a dyed candle, a stained glass pane, a hanging sign, a gold nugget, coal, wheat seeds, beetroot seeds, a dead bush, a flower pot, string, a lead, a Relic music disc, or an armor trim.

Advancements

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location

Respecting the Remnants

Brush a Suspicious block to obtain a Pottery Sherd

Adventure

—

adventure/salvage_sherd

Smells Interesting

Obtain a Sniffer Egg

Husbandry

Have a sniffer egg in your inventory.
This is a hidden advancement, meaning that it can be viewed by the player only after completing it, regardless of if its child advancement(s), if any, have been completed.

husbandry/obtain_sniffer_egg

History

Java Edition
October 3rd, 2020		Archaeology was announced at Minecraft Live 2020. {"type": "", "version": "October 3rd, 2020", "content": "Archaeology was announced at (link to Minecraft Live 2020 article, displayed as Minecraft Live 2020)."}
April 14th, 2021		Archaeology was delayed to 1.18. {"type": "", "version": "April 14th, 2021", "content": "Archaeology was delayed to 1.18."}
November 17th, 2021		Archaeology was announced to be added after The Wild Update. {"type": "", "version": "November 17th, 2021", "content": "Archaeology was announced to be added after (link to The Wild Update article, displayed as The Wild Update)."}
February 10th, 2023		Archaeology was announced to be added in 1.20. {"type": "", "version": "February 10th, 2023", "content": "Archaeology was announced to be added in 1.20."}
1.20 (Experimental)	23w07a	Added Archaeology. {"type": "java", "version": "1.20<br>(Experimental)", "snap": "23w07a", "content": "Added Archaeology."}
Bedrock Edition
1.20.0 (Experimental)	beta 1.19.70.23	Added Archaeology. {"type": "bedrock", "version": "1.20.0<br>(Experimental)", "snap": "beta 1.19.70.23", "content": "Added Archaeology."}