The Spawn Chunks 278: Brushing Up On Archaeology With ArchaeoPlays
Joel, and Jonny welcome ArchaeoPlays, Dr. Heather Christie back to the show for a retrospective conversation about archaeology in Minecraft, an ambitious Egyptian pyramid project, and first impressions of the armadillo.
Joel Duggan
Pixlriffs
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ArchaeoPlays, Dr. Heather Christie
- Egyptian Pyramids
- Constructed eleven ancient Egyptian pyramids, three of which are to scale.
- Concessions had to be made for render distance, the correct slope of the pyramids.
- Archaeologist Builds Egyptian Pyramids (YouTube.com/@ArchaeoPlays)
- Started constructing a brickworks site to break up the time investment in the ancient pyramid project.
- Clay And Bricks | Archaeologists’s Guide To Minecraft | Ep. 15 (YouTube.com/@ArchaeoPlays)
- Constructed eleven ancient Egyptian pyramids, three of which are to scale.
Joel
- The Citadel | Westhill
- Right now the focus in Westhill is reshaping a few rivers, and doing some moderate landscaping.
- In the background, continuing the process of updating the list of mods, and data packs on The Citadel server.
Jonny
- The Minecraft Survival Guide, Season 3
- Building some new slime block contraptions in the world now that there is an abundance of slime blocks.
- The only permanent slime construction so far is a piston door in the storage hall.
- Currently working on a permanent tree farm area to move on from periodically spreading podzol around the starting are builds, and be more organized about the log collection.
- Building some new slime block contraptions in the world now that there is an abundance of slime blocks.
Render Distance Chunk Mail
FROM: TheN00K1E
DISCORD MEMBER: Landscape Artist Member
SUBJECT: A Sweeping New Idea (April 2023, Before Archaeology Release)
Snow is a loose material so they made it into blocks but also very versatile because you can place it in layers. Wouldn’t it be nice, if this logic applied to other loose materials in the game like dirt, gravel or sand? The challenge is of course, that these are the oldest blocks in the game, so you can’t just change the default function of those blocks. Maybe it’s a job for a new tool?
Introducing the broom! Made in a three-by-three crafting grid, similar to a pickaxe but with three wheat at the top for the bristles, and 2 sticks for the handle. Cheap material, and with low durability.
Similar to the brush from archeology, you could go up to a natural block of your choice, and sweep it. It breaks the whole block, but instead of one block you get eight layers. As with snow, you place each later to a total of eight layers when they become a regular dirt block again, which you can use a shovel to mine like normal, or use the broom again. Maybe these layers also have an easy crafting recipe for the crafting bench, if you need a lot of it, or to re-craft blocks again?
With the broom you would only obtain it on purpose, and not accidentally.
And for people who don’t want layers, nothing changes for them, when they don’t use a broom.
What do you think of that?
I love the podcast!
TheN00K1E, fell from a high place, because she forgot that these brooms don’t fly.
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Archaeology In Action
The last time Dr. Christie joined Joel, and Jonny on The Spawn Chunks archaeology was not yet announced as a confirmed feature for Minecraft 1.20 Trails & Tales. Now that archaeology has been in the game for six months, how does a real life archaeologist feel about the implementation in Minecraft? How does archaeology in Minecraft compare to the experience of dig sites in real life? How does being an archaeologist in real life affect the way archaeology is approached in a video game? Dr. Christie provides valuable insight in a retrospective conversation to help Minecraft players get the most out of their virtual digs.
FROM: Cosmic
DISCORD MEMBER: Landscape Artist & Moderator (and long-term member of our community)
SUBJECT: Minecraft Archaeology in the Classroom!
I’ve loved the introduction of archeology in to Minecraft even more than I thought I would and in ways I didn’t anticipate. What I’ve enjoyed most about it, is exploring trail ruins with others – either server mates or my children – and the fun conversations and learning opportunities that has lead to.
From exploring a trail ruin with my kids, we looked up a whole ton of archeology stuff on YouTube – including how a real archeological dig is completed so we can look to incorporate this in our next trail ruins find.
I’m interested to hear if ArcheoPlays feels that having this mechanic in Minecraft would make a good teaching tool, and if it’s something they could imagine being used in a classroom setting to give a good, hands on experience?
Cosmic
