Cleaning and Identifying Fossils at the Archeology Workbench

Set Up the Workbench

Craft and place an Archeology Workbench. This is the station for the fossil:worktable recipe type, which has 30 recipes. Bring the fossil-bearing blocks you have dug up plus any tools the workbench expects.

Process the Fossil

Place the raw fossil into the Archeology Workbench and work it until it is cleaned. Cleaning reveals the fossil's identity and yields the bone or embryo item you actually need. Some outputs go straight into a Culture Vat; others are bones used for armor and weapons.

Bone armor is craftable from cleaned bone material: Bone Helmet, Bone Chestplate, Bone Leggings, and Bone Boots. Bone tools and weapons include the Ancient Sword and Ancient Javelin. The Analyzer is a separate station for examining items — use it when you need to identify what a fossil or artifact actually is before committing materials.

Damaged pottery comes out of the ground too. You will find Damaged Amphora, Damaged Kylix, and Damaged Volute. These are the broken forms; the intact versions — Black Amphora, Blue Kylix, Brown Volute, and the other color variants — are what you want for display. Keep damaged pieces; they are part of the pottery progression rather than junk.

Run every fossil you find through the Archeology Workbench before storing it. Uncleaned fossils are dead weight.