Oolite Bulletins

There's some archaeology going on in KSR's Icehenge.

Icehenge: that's one…

2001: A Space Odyssey - it all kicks off when TMA-1 is discovered on the Moon.

Yup - that's two…

The Subways of Tazoo by Colin Kapp - part of the Unorthodox Engineers series, weird archaeology of a dead race whose main legacy seems to be a subway system.

Three …

I am not sure if it counts, but Stargate (SG-1) actually started with archaeological findings in Egypt

montana05 wrote:

I am not sure if it counts, but Stargate (SG-1) actually started with archaeological findings in Egypt

Unfortunately, this question is restricted to novels and short stories, so I can't accept Stargate or its spinoffs.

Oh, and by the way: in addition to the mystery black sarcophagus being unearthed in Egypt, an earthquake in Mexico has cracked open a pyramid and revealed a previously unknown temple inside:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-44806790

This is all fine.

And now the shadow of a huge, unknown henge has appeared in Ireland. All normal. I mean, Donald Trump and a bunch of other dodgy geezers did manhandle that glowing orb in a totally non-sinister way a while back, but it's easy to read too much into these things. And reports of undersea tremors in the region of 47°9′S 126°43′W are exaggerated, I'm sure.



Anyway, back to the quiz. 2001: A Space Odyssey isn't the only book that features an alien artefact on the moon … of course, not all alien artefacts are benign!

Tremors in the spacecraft cemetary? Oh dear!

Maybe "archaeology" is too restrictive a term. Novels and short stories involving "treasure hunting" and "stumbling across an ancient whatever" are also acceptable.

Frederik Pohl's Gateway may qualify...

Grubbing around in the often lethal debris of an ancient, alien civilisation … Gateway definitely qualifies! That's four. One more takes the prize!

Is this really stumping people? Or is everyone terrified of having to ask the next question?

By way of another hint, Mars is a good place, science-fictionally speaking, to stumble over ancient ruins or to go looking for the treasures of a lost civilisation …