The sands of time slowly cover up what remains of the birthplace of civilization, a people once driven by creation, now left in ruin. Erosion and hubris casting a shadow over what once was. The crumbling buildings and scattered fragments of society leaving a puzzle to the past, hoping that someday someone will pick up those pieces of this fallen land to reassemble the story of their downfall.
Well, that day is today. And that someone is me.
Hello Internet! Welcome to Game Theory, the show that’s always happy to brush up on some Minecraft. You know, I get super excited every time Mojang drops us a new update. New updates mean new mobs, new locations, new mechanics for us to mine through for story. And that was doubly so for 1.20 because they were finally adding something that had been teased all the way back in 2020. Archaeology.
Archaeology is literally uncovering history. It is putting together the LORE of real life. And so I waited for three years in anticipation. And finally, finally, when the Trails and Tales update came out, we got a camel. There was also a sniffer, a new Cherry Grove biome, and then a handful of armor designs and broken pots. Not exactly the most groundbreaking stuff, at least at first glance. Sure, there was no big, exciting entity like the warden or a mysterious structure like an ancient city.
But as with most archeology, while the surface might seem largely pointless and empty, if you dig a bit deeper, you start to uncover the real story behind everything. In fact, I believe that this update gives us the most comprehensive look into the society of ancient builders that we’ve been theorizing about for years. Their daily lives, their tribal disputes, and ultimately where it all went wrong with the origins of the wither.
Grab your archeological brushes there, loyal theorists. It’s time we dust off the lost pieces of Minecraft’s forgotten civilization. And I do mean that literally, because this whole thing starts with one of the seemingly smallest fragments of society: broken pots.
