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Archaeology in World of Warcraft is focused on
locating, piecing together, and appraising ancient artifacts from the
various races of Azeorth (and perhaps beyond). These artifacts were
unearthed in the Cataclysm brought about by Deathwing. This profession
will unlock unique and fun rewards such as vanity pets and mounts. Also
occasionally players may also discover a rare weapon or armor piece.
Archaeology is designed to be a very causal profession. Read on to learn
more about this secondary profession.

Training Archaeology

As it is with all World of Warcraft
professions you must first train Archaeology before you can really dig
into it. To do this seek out an Archaeology Trainer. These trainers can be
found in all major cities and can easily be located by speaking with a
nearby city guard.

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Dig Sites

Once you have trained in the Archaeology profession you will be able to view
dig sites on the World Map as well as individual zone maps. Dig sites on the
World Map appear as tiny shovels, while sites on the zone map will appear as
a colored circle.

alt="Archaeology Digsites" />

There will always be five dig sites available per continent at all times.
These dig sites will not change unless they are dug out. The number of
zones and continents you can find dig sites on will depend on your current
Archaeology profession skill level as well as character level. Each dig
site is player specific meaning you will never face any competition.

Surveying and Fragments

Once you have located a dig site using your maps, you will want to use
the [Survey] ability. This ability is learned with the Archaeology
profession and can only be used when your character is near a dig site.
When used [Survey] will drop a tripod telescope equipped with a small
light. This telescope provides two bits of useful information; direction
and distance from the dig site. When the tripod is placed it automatically
points in the direction that you need to follow to move closer to the dig
site. Distance on the other hand can be determined by taking a glance what
color the light on the tripod currently is. Check out the helpful diagram
below to learn more:

Archaeology Tripod Color

Use [Survey] while you are within 5 yards of the dig site and a fragment
piece will appear. You may survey the site up to six times before it
vanishes and is replaced with a new dig site somewhere else on your map.
Each fragment you find at a dig site is specific to a particular race.
Different zones provide different fragment pieces:

alt="Archaeology Race Map" />

Artifacts

Each time you loot a fragment piece from a dig site it will be placed in
your Archaeology Journal. Inside the journal players will find a listing of
all the races you may collect fragments for. Races you currently have
fragments for are colored. Clicking on any of the races in color will reveal
more information about the race and will also display a bar showing how many
fragments you currently have and how many you need to complete the artifact.
To view the Archaeology Journal click "Archaeology" from your Profession
tab.

alt="Archaeology Journal MoP" />

These fragments are automatically placed into research projects for the
race they belong to. Once enough fragments for that race have been
collected, an artifact can be created by clicking the "Solve" button. Excess
fragments do not go to waste, instead they can be used to start a new
research project for the race. You cannot control which project will open
for your character, it is randomly selected. Players may only work on one
research project for a particular race at a time.

Do you have any helpful tips or tricks for the Archaeology profession? Feel
free to share them with us in the comments section below!


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Amunet, also fondly known as Memtron, is an organic life form best known for its ongoing obsession with Blizzard Entertainment's numerous properties. To that end, Amu has authored hundreds (thousands?) of the most popular World of Warcraft guides, editorials, and Top 10 lists on the planet. When not gaming and writing, Amu is busy chasing after her three children in a perpetual loop of ongoing disaster.

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