Archaeologia Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• I. Components
• II. Object of the Game
• III. First Player
• IV. Game Setup
• V. Preliminary Turn
• VI. Course of a Turn
• VII. Managing Actions
  • Move: 1 ACTION
  • Access the tool hut: free
  • Use the SONAR: 1 ACTION
  • Dig a pile: 1 ACTION
  • Give a discovery to the museum: free
  • Access the black market: 1 ACTION
  • Play a card with / without ACTION symbol
• VIII. Secret Objective
• Example of a Game
• Archaeological and Paleontological Glossary
• Chronological Frieze
• Player Aid

I. Components

• 70 tiles representing the strata: GRASS x18, ROCK x18, EARTH x18, DINOSAUR x16
• 12 tiles representing the tools: SHOVEL x4, PICKAXE x4, BRUSH x4
• 1 RAIN tile
• 65 EVENT cards
• 10 SECRET OBJECTIVE cards
• 4 ARCHAEOLOGIST pawns
• 2 score boards and 8 markers: MONEY/TOOLS and RENOWN
• 4 SONAR markers

II. Object of the Game

Declared "greatest archaeologist of his time":

• the first player to obtain at least 40 renown points (RP)

  or

• the player with the most RP when a player (himself or another) possesses the 2 dinosaur eggs.

RP are acquired by giving archaeological discoveries to the museum.

III. First Player

The first player is the one who most recently visited an archaeological site; failing that, the last one who dug... or finally, the oldest.

IV. Game Setup

The first player, out of sight of the other players, arranges the 16 DINOSAUR tiles face down (buried side up) in a 4 by 4 square. He places the 2 score boards on either side of the archaeological site.

The first player, still out of sight of the other players, then covers these tiles with the ROCK tiles face down. The 2 remaining tiles are placed face up next to the MONEY/TOOLS board for the black market.

The other players, out of sight of the first player, randomly shuffle the piles thus formed.

Then all players cover these piles with the EARTH tiles and finally with the GRASS tiles, all face down. The 4 remaining tiles are also placed face up to the side for the black market.

Shuffle the EVENT card deck and place it face down. During the game, the discard pile will be formed next to it, face up.

Place the tools near the MONEY/TOOLS board.

Each player places one marker on space 0 of the RENOWN scale and the other on space 12 of the MONEY scale (i.e. 12 coins).

V. Preliminary Turn

• The first player places his ARCHAEOLOGIST pawn on a pile of his choice. The player to his left then does the same, and so on.
• Initial use of the SONAR: each player looks at the tiles of one pile of his choice.
• Each player draws 3 EVENT cards, which make up his hand.
• Each player draws one SECRET OBJECTIVE card.

VI. Course of a Turn

A player's turn takes place in 3 phases:

1. He must draw an EVENT card.
2. He may perform 3 ACTIONS at most.
3. At the end of the turn, if he has more than 3 cards in hand, he must discard the excess cards.

VII. Managing Actions

During his turn, the player may perform up to 3 ACTIONS, in the number and order of his choice:

• Move
• Use the SONAR
• Dig a pile
• Access the black market
• Play a card with the ACTION symbol

If the player uses none of the ACTIONS above, he gains 2 coins.

He may also perform free* and unlimited actions during his turn:

• Access the tool hut
• Give a discovery to the museum
• Play a card without the ACTION symbol

* : they do not use up the ACTIONS available each turn.

Example A:

1. I draw a card.
2. I move = 1 ACTION. I access the tool hut = free. I dig a pile = 1 ACTION. I give a discovery to the museum = free. I move again = 1 ACTION.
3. 4 cards remain in my hand, I discard one.

Example B:

1. I draw a card.
2. I play a card without ACTION = free. I give a discovery to the museum = free. I gain 2 coins.
3. 3 cards remain in my hand, no discard.

Move: 1 ACTION

The player moves his ARCHAEOLOGIST pawn to an adjacent space, but not diagonally.

Access the tool hut: free

The player may buy tools there or rent equipment there, within the limit of his budget.

Purchase:

• The SHOVEL (1 coin) allows digging EARTH tiles.
• The PICKAXE (2 coins) allows digging ROCK tiles.
• The BRUSH (3 coins) allows digging DINOSAUR tiles.

The player may take only one tile of each tool and has them at his disposal for the whole game. He may sell a tool back (1 coin) to the tool hut.

Rental:

• The AIRPLANE (2 coins) allows moving once onto a pile of his choice this turn.
• The TENT (2 coins) allows placing a pile sheltered from the RAIN for the rest of the game.
• The WORKFORCE (2 coins) allows playing one additional ACTION this turn.
• The SONAR (1 coin) allows having a sonar at his disposal for the use of this turn.

Use the SONAR: 1 ACTION

Rented at the tool hut, the player uses the SONAR to look at the tiles of a pile of his choice, except those affected by the RAIN. He may use the sonar for each ACTION available this turn.

The SONAR marker is an aid for locating a pile but has no effect on play.

Example C:

1. I draw a card.
2. I access the tool hut = free. I buy a SHOVEL (-1 coin). I rent a SONAR (-1 coin). I use the SONAR = 1 ACTION. I use the SONAR again = 1 ACTION. I move = 1 ACTION.
3. 4 cards remain in my hand, I discard one.

Dig a pile: 1 ACTION

A player wishing to dig a stratum must:

• Be the only ARCHAEOLOGIST on the pile
• Not be affected by the RAIN
• Have the appropriate tool
• Pay the prospecting cost

STRATUM	RESEARCH	TOOL	PROSPECTING COST
GRASS	Bronze Age	none	free
EARTH	prehistoric	SHOVEL	1 coin
ROCK	fossils	PICKAXE	1 coin
DINOSAUR	dinosaurs	BRUSH	1 coin

He then takes the top tile of the pile and reveals its discovery in front of him.

Give a discovery to the museum: free

The player may give a discovery that he possesses to the museum in order to gain the renown points (RP) shown at the top left of the tile. It is placed face up next to the RENOWN board.

(Illustration: "Renown Point icon" shown on the top left of a tile.)

Discoveries are single or multiple: the latter must be complete to be accepted by the museum.

• Single (6 per stratum): a single tile.
• Doubles (2 per stratum): must be assembled.
• Collections (2 per stratum: 3 and 4 tiles): must be brought together according to the symbol at the top right.

(Illustration: the "collection type" icon and the "number of tiles in this collection" are shown at the top right of a tile; the "collection icon" is repeated on each tile of the collection.)

Collections:

Stratum	Collection	Tiles
GRASS	Pirates' Treasures	3
GRASS	Celts' Treasures	4
EARTH	The Village	3
EARTH	The Hunter's Bag	4
ROCK	Plant Fossils	3
ROCK	Animal Fossils	4

* Dinosaurs (4 triples, 1 double, 2 eggs): must be assembled according to the symbol at the bottom right (collection icon). The dinosaur families are: Tyrannosaurus (3 tiles), Triceratops (3), Pliosaur (3), Diplodocus (3) and Pteranodon (2, the double).

If the player is on the pile of another ARCHAEOLOGIST, he may complete his discoveries with those of his opponent and give them to the museum; each player then receives the number of RP corresponding to the discoveries he possessed. This pooling cannot be refused.

Example D:

1. I draw a card.
2. I dig EARTH = 1 ACTION (-1 coin). I give a discovery to the museum = free. I give ERMINE (+1 RP). I move onto the tile of a player who could complete my collection = 1 ACTION. I give a discovery to the museum = free. I give POTTERY with OIL LAMP (+6 RP for me) and a MILLSTONE of STONE for the other player (+3 RP for him) [VILLAGE coll.]. I move = 1 ACTION.
3. 4 cards remain in my hand, I discard one.

Access the black market: 1 ACTION

The player may sell, buy and/or exchange one or more discoveries according to the number of coins indicated at the bottom right of the tile. The black market accepts incomplete pieces.

(Illustration: "Black market value" shown at the bottom right of a tile.)

Play a card with / without ACTION symbol

The player may use one or more of these EVENT cards in hand: he applies the effects and the duration indicated immediately. The text of the card takes precedence over the rules.

• Card without ACTION symbol = free
• Card with ACTION symbol = 1 ACTION

(Illustration: the ACTION symbol, a footprint, shown on the AIRPLANE card.)

VIII. Secret Objective

Each player may try to fulfil the conditions of his SECRET OBJECTIVE card:

• If they are met: he reveals this card and immediately applies the gains (coins and/or RP).
• If they are no longer achievable: he reveals this card, discards it, then draws a new SECRET OBJECTIVE card.

Example of a Game

(Illustration only: a four-player game layout showing, for Players 1 to 4, the tools, cards and discard pile, the MONEY/TOOLS board, the black market, the archaeological site, the RENOWN board and the museum.)

Archaeological and Paleontological Glossary

The Menhir. A menhir is a standing stone planted vertically. It is one of the characteristic forms of megalithism. Popular culture has often associated menhirs with the Celts, which is inaccurate since menhirs existed several thousand years before the Celts arrived in Europe.

The Meteorite. A meteorite is a natural solid body of interplanetary (within the solar system) or extrasolar (outside the solar system) origin whose passage through the atmosphere did not make it lose all its mass and which reached the surface of the Earth. Throughout the centuries, meteorites have been venerated as sacred objects by different ancient cultures and civilizations.

The Merovingians. The Merovingians are the dynasty that reigned from the 5th to the 7th century. It was founded by Clovis. Its name comes from Merovech (the semi-mythical ancestor of Clovis). It is the first dynasty of France.

Chronological Frieze

(Two timeline charts are printed: one on a scale in years, one on a scale in millions of years. They are not transcribed here beyond their headline periods. Scale in years: Lower Paleolithic from -800,000 (Homo erectus; use of fire -400,000), Middle Paleolithic from -300,000 (Neanderthal man), Upper Paleolithic from -40,000 (Homo sapiens; parietal art -30,000), Mesolithic from -12,500 (use of the bow -9,000), Neolithic from -6,000 (polished axe -6,000), Bronze Age and Iron Age, Gallo-Roman antiquity, Middle Ages, modern and contemporary periods. Scale in millions of years: Cambrian from -543M, Ordovician -488M, Silurian -444M, Devonian -416M, Carboniferous -360M, Permian -300M, Triassic -251M, Jurassic -200M, Cretaceous -145M, Paleocene -65M, Miocene -23M.)

The Venus of Willendorf. The Venus of Willendorf was discovered in 1908 near the village of Krems in Austria. It is now kept in the Natural History Museum of Vienna. It is a limestone statuette dated to about 23,000 years before the Christian era. It is 11 cm tall and traces of pigment indicate that it was probably originally painted red.

Tautavel Man. Tautavel Man belongs to the species Homo erectus, which was the first prehistoric man to live in Europe, 750,000 to 300,000 years ago, before Neanderthal Man. Homo erectus is classed among the Pre-Neanderthals. He was discovered in France in 1971 near the village of Tautavel, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, by the paleo-anthropologist Henry de Lumley, in a large cave called the Caune de l'Arago.

Rock Art. It is the production of images by painting, sculpture or engraving on stone. This art is expressed on rock in the open air or at the bottom of the deepest caves. The paintings of the Pont d'Arc Cave in Ardèche are estimated at more than 30,000 years before J.C.

The Proteroctopus. The world's oldest octopus, discovered at La Voulte, pushes back the existence of octopods to 160 million years! The fossilization phenomenon at La Voulte took place according to a unique process, and the Museum of Paleontology created in 1989 by Bernard Riou lets us benefit from these finds.

The Stromatolite. Stromatolites are organic fossils, because they are bio-constructed by bacterial communities. The oldest date from 3.5 billion years and are among the oldest fossil rocks of known biological origin.

Player Aid

The turn:

1. Draw an EVENT card
2. Perform 3 ACTIONS at most
3. At the end of the turn, discard cards beyond 3

The actions:

• Move
• Use the SONAR
• Dig a pile
• Access the black market
• Play a card with the ACTION symbol

If the player uses none of the ACTIONS above, he gains 2 coins.

He may also perform free and unlimited actions during his turn:

• Access the tool hut
• Give a discovery to the museum
• Play a card without the ACTION symbol

Stratum / research / tool / prospecting cost: GRASS, Bronze Age, none, free; EARTH, prehistoric, SHOVEL, 1 coin; ROCK, fossils, PICKAXE, 1 coin; DINOSAUR, dinosaurs, BRUSH, 1 coin.

The families: GRASS: Pirates' Treasures (3), Celts' Treasures (4). EARTH: The Village (3), The Hunter's Bag (4). ROCK: Plant Fossils (3), Animal Fossils (4).

The dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus (3 tiles), Triceratops (3), Pliosaur (3), Diplodocus (3), Pteranodon (2).