Archaeology

The archaeology is a gameplay mechanic that allows the player to find items that represent historical artifacts inside suspicious sand and gravel blocks. This mechanic was originally intended to be part of the Caves & Cliffs update, but it had been delayed three times until the Trails & Tales update.

Guide
By using a brush on suspicious sand at warm ocean ruins (those whose main building material is sandstone), desert pyramids and desert wells, players can discover and obtain artifacts and other loot, such as sticks, emeralds and pottery shards. If the player breaks or drops a block of suspicious sand, they permanently break these artifacts. Pottery shards can be used to add decoration to decorated pots. The brush can still be used on suspicious gravel blocks found in cold ocean ruins (those whose main building material is stone brick) and trail ruins. Suspicious blocks provides a wider variety of items after brushing.

Blocks

 * Decorated Pot (E) JE1.png
 * Can be crafted with any 4 pottery sherds or brick items, shaped rhombic.
 * The type of crafting material decides which picture appears on the certain side of the crafted decorated pot.
 * The possible pictures are decided by the type of pottery sherd which is used to craft.
 * The brick item does not have a picture.
 * It is very fragile and very easy to break:
 * Breaks apart into its crafting materials when breaking it using any block-breaking tool.
 * Drops itself when breaking it using nothing or a tool enchanted with Silk Touch.


 * Sniffer Egg.png
 * 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 BE1.png
 * Generates in cold ocean ruins and trail ruins.
 * Brushing the suspicious gravel with a brush extracts items.


 * Suspicious Sand JE1 BE1.png
 * Generates in desert temples, desert wells, and warm ocean ruins.
 * Brushing the suspicious sand with a brush extracts items.

Items

 * Brush JE1 BE1.png
 * 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.

World generation

 * 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 shards can be found here.
 * Four armor trims and seven pottery shards 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 shard, 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, Music Disc Relic by Aaron Cherof, or an armor trim.