Excavate: Tool Guide

Do you keep breaking artifacts while on your Excavate! adventures? 

Well here's a guide to help you better navigate your excavation process! In our games, we make sure students learn how to "dig" properly at a site by using actual tools that archaeologists use in the field. 

Below is the tool bank our games use. In ascending order, we go from our smallest and most careful tool, the dentist pick, to our largest and fastest tool, the hoe. 

 

To uncover all of the artifacts, our players have to balance patience to their will of discovery. Using the hoe will certainly uncover artifacts faster, however it will also cause the player to break these artifacts and restart the strata. On a similar note, the dentist pick won't break a single artifact, but it would time a very long time to uncover everything with it. Thus, we have a rainbow of tools at the player's disposal. 

The Tools

	Dentist Pick	Just like the ones used in a dentist’s office, dental picks are primarily used to carve away small bits of soil from delicate artifacts.
	Paint Brush	The soft bristles can gently sweep away small amounts of soil from delicate objects.
	Trowel	Its unique shape has two main purposes. Firstly, the trowel’s edge scrapes and properly shapes the sides of a trench. Secondly, the trowel’s tip can carefully remove soil from around the small objects.
	Hand Pick	Lift and swing the pointed end into the ground to break up the soil. The flat end of the pick is then dragged along the loosened soil to remove it.
	Large Brush	Best used to sweep away loose soil and is often used with a dustpan.
	Hoe	The Hoe is used much like a rake, using its edge to scrape along the digging area to remove  loose soil.

It's important to remember that Excavate! gives the player a warning when their tool collides with an artifact that requires a more delicate approach. All the player has to do is choose a tool farther to the left of the Tool Box. The player may then be given a second warning, but they just need to choose from the left again.