Building Blocks: Trail Ruins

Trail ruins are a rare find, usually stumbled across while mining or exploring. You won’t see much on the surface – but below ground, there’s far more to discover. Dig a little and you’ll unearth a small settlement, consisting of a handful of shacks and a tower, mostly built from mud and terracotta.

Between the structures is a main road, made of cobblestone and bricks – the “trail” in the name. All of this is buried in a mixture of dirt, coarse dirt, gravel, and suspicious gravel – which can be brushed to find even more evidence of the culture that lived in this place.

It’s worth doing so, because alongside the scientific discoveries there’s good loot to be found too. The list includes emeralds, gold nuggets, candles, dye of different colours, and various kinds of armor trim templates and pottery sherds. If you’re very lucky, you might even find an ancient, warped, music disc.

On Earth, there are ruins to be found all over the planet – dating from the development of the first stone tools in East Africa 3.3 million years ago, all the way up to the present day. Archeologists investigate these ruins to better understand the past, learn how people used to live, and document changes in human society over time.

Archaeology isn’t a new thing – it has existed since at least 550 BC, when King Nabonidus of Ancient Mesopotamia dug up and analysed ruins from the Akkadian Empire of 2200 BC. He not only discovered temples to the Sun god, the Moon god, and a Warrior goddess, but also restored them to their former glory. We only know this because our archaeologists did archaeology on his archaeology!

So next time you’re uncovering ancient remains in the Overworld, think carefully about how players in 10,000 years will likely find your archaeological work and learn more about you in the process. Maybe you could even leave them a note – a time capsule for the future. Wouldn’t that be exciting to dig up?