Ever wanted to discover more of the history and lore of the Minecraft world? If so, embracing the archaeology mechanic in Minecraft is definitely worth keeping in mind. But what did the Minecraft archaeology update include and how can you make the most of the new archaeology sites in the game? Well, we’ve outlined everything you’ll need to know to help with this in today’s guide to help. Hopefully, this will introduce you to the archeology mechanic to help in turn.

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What did the Archaeology Update in Minecraft Introduce?
The Archaeology update in Minecraft was a recent addition to the game along with the Trails and Tales update, making it a worthwhile feature to consider trying for your regular
Minecraft server. After all, while it might seem like a relatively minor change, the introduction of archaeology into the game opens up a range of new blocks and opportunities that you may well want to include in your own playthrough.
How to Carry Out Archaeological Excavations in Minecraft
Archaeology in Minecraft. It’s an incredibly exciting feature that was brought into the game with the Trails and Tales update, and as a result, it’s well worth knowing about how the feature works. As part of this, you’ll first need to know how to carry out archaeological excavations in Minecraft, as a whole.
Simply put, archaeological excavations in Minecraft are a relatively simple process, carried out by using a brush on suspicious sand and gravel. Much like regular sand and gravel, suspicious sand and gravel are gravity-affected blocks that look very similar to their normal counterparts. However, if you carefully clean them using a brush, it’s possible to potentially unearth treasures from within these blocks.
Making a Brush for Archaeology in Minecraft
Not just any tool is good enough to complete a successful excavation of a block of suspicious sand or gravel; for this, you’ll need a brush. A brush is a unique tool that can be used in archaeological excavations. It also has a range of other minor uses, such as obtaining armadillo scutes; however, chances are, you’ll be crafting a brush for archaeology usually.
A basic brush can be made by arranging a feather, a copper ingot, and a stick in a straight verticle line downwards along the center of your crafting panel. Alternatively, two damaged brushes can be repaired by combining them together, with the new brush having durability equal to the sum of both damaged brushes plus 5%.
Each time you successfully excavate an item from a block, which takes 4.8 seconds of continuous brushing, your brush will lose one durability point. However, using a brush on an armadillo depletes its quality significantly more, which is worth keeping in mind.
What Can I Find While Excavating Archaeological Sites in Minecraft?
While excavating archaeological sites in Minecraft, you might find several different types of items. Keeping this in mind can help you understand more about the new items you might discover during your adventure.
The main item you’ll find when excavating archaeological sites is pottery sherds, along with sticks and emeralds. Pottery sherds are used to craft a Decorated Pot when the sherds are arranged as a rhombus. In total, there are twenty different variants of the pottery sherds.
In addition to this, there are several other items you could obtain by excavating archaeological sites in Minecraft, including relic music discs, sniffer eggs, bricks, TNT, gunpowder, emeralds, diamonds, sticks, suspicious stew, wheat, wooden hoes, coal, gold nuggets, iron axes, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
No! There are also many other items you could find using archaeology in Minecraft alongside pottery sherds, including numerous types of loot such as emeralds, gold nuggets, seeds, relic music discs, TNT, gunpowder, and more.
There are two different achievements you can unlock through archaeology in Minecraft: Respecting the Remnants and Smells Interesting. These are awarded for first brushing a suspicious block of sand or gravel and for obtaining a Sniffer egg, respectively.
If you break suspicious sand or gravel without a brush, you will not obtain any archaeological rewards. However, if you use a brush on the block, you can retrieve a loot item and the suspicious sand or gravel will become regular sand/gravel thereafter.
Final Thoughts
One of the great things about Minecraft has to be its huge array of features and the massive range of options, allowing players to really make their world, their way. As part of this, undertaking archaeological excavations can often be a brilliant way to discover brand new and exciting blocks—and today’s guide should have equipped you with the knowledge you’ll need to really embrace the excitement of archaeological digs in the game.