How to Do Archaeology in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Craft a brush (feather + copper ingot + stick) and use it on suspicious sand (desert temples, wells, warm ocean ruins) or suspicious gravel (trail ruins, cold ocean ruins) - brushing slowly reveals pottery sherds, armor trims, sniffer eggs and loot instead of breaking the block.

What you need

Brush (1 feather, 1 copper ingot, 1 stick)
Shovel for normal blocks around the suspicious ones
Water Breathing for underwater exploration
Spare brushes

Step by step

Craft 1 brush: put 1 feather at the top, 1 copper ingot in the middle and 1 stick at the bottom of one vertical column in a crafting table.
Learn the sites: suspicious sand generates in desert pyramids, desert wells and warm ocean ruins; suspicious gravel generates in trail ruins and cold ocean ruins. Trial chambers contain decorated pots with some sherd patterns, not a suspicious-gravel excavation site.
Excavate carefully around suspicious blocks: mining, explosions or a fall can destroy their loot. Keep a supporting block below them and use the brush rather than a shovel on the suspicious block itself.
Hold the use button with the brush on a suspicious block for 4.8 seconds (96 game ticks). The item emerges and the block becomes normal sand or gravel. Stopping too soon lets the excavation progress fade.
Warm ocean ruins: brush suspicious sand for a 1 in 15 chance of a sniffer egg per block. Place the egg on a moss block for a 10-minute hatch time; other blocks take 20 minutes.
Trail ruins: brush suspicious gravel for exclusive pottery sherds and 4 armor trims (Host, Raiser, Shaper, Wayfinder).
Cold ocean ruins: suspicious gravel gives sherds and loot; watch for drowned.
Collect pottery sherds: there are 23 patterns, including 3 from decorated pots in trial chambers. Craft a decorated pot from any combination of 4 sherds or bricks, arranged in a diamond in a crafting table.

Java vs Bedrock

Archaeology sites and the 4.8-second brushing time apply in both editions. Brush durability differs: 64 in Java and 65 in Bedrock. Mining a suspicious block destroys its loot in either edition.

Versions: Describes the current Java and Bedrock releases. See the edition note above for differences.

Frequently asked questions

How do you get a sniffer egg?

Brush suspicious sand in warm ocean ruins: each block has a 1 in 15 chance of containing a sniffer egg. An egg hatches in 10 minutes on a moss block or 20 minutes on other blocks, including pale moss.

What happens if you mine suspicious sand?

Mining destroys the loot, even with Silk Touch. Brush the block instead, and keep it supported so it does not fall.

How many pottery sherds are there?

There are 23 pottery sherd patterns. Archaeology provides 20; the Flow, Guster and Scrape patterns come from decorated pots in trial chambers. Any combination of 4 sherds or bricks makes a decorated pot.