ArchaeoPlays
I’m an archaeologist. I also play a lot of games and when I do, my inner archaeologist can't help but think about them in relation to the past. So if you're interested in archaeology chat while playing video games, feel free to subscribe and check out my content!
Thank you for all the support :)
ArchaeoPlays
It's nearly Halloween! Minecraft's pumpkin history is interesting, so have a pumpkin question: Which came first in Minecraft, pumpkins or carved pumpkins? Any iteration of them counts - pumpkins with faces vs pumpkins without faces, previews and snapshots are fair game.
4 days ago | [YT] | 4
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ArchaeoPlays
It's Halloween week! Which vanilla-friendly costume would you choose to go as? YouTube only lets me have four options, so comment below if you'd opt for something that isn't here!
Zombie: Cyan leather tunic, blue leather pants, zombie head
Skeleton: Silence armor trim in nether quartz on iron boots, iron leggings, and a white leather tunic
Creeper: Silence armor trim in emerald on lime leather tunic, lime leather pants, and lime leather boots
Ender Dragon: Eye armor trim in amethyst on netherite chestplate, netherite leggings, and netherite boots.
6 days ago | [YT] | 8
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ArchaeoPlays
Where I've been:
Hey everyone - no quiz post today. My brain is mush, and I'll explain why, but I wanted to also give you all a general update on my health (nothing squeemish - I'm only going to talk in vague terms).
I have seven chronic illnesses. Some of them are more annoying/frustrating, some of them are excruciatingly painful. I'm currently on a waitlist for surgery that will hopefully resolve or at least reset the painful ones, but that waitlist has roughly 18 months still to go at a minimum.
Until that surgery, things will be painful, and they will get progressively worse. Unfortunately, that means that my ability to upload videos or stream is precarious. I don't think it's more precarious than the rest of this year, and it's still definitely better than most of 2025! But videos may be sporadic, streams may be difficult - sitting for that long can hurt a LOT. And I may have weeks like this one, where I've been dealing with a flare and then illness and now another flare for ~3 weeks and I've temporarily run out of brain power to put polls and quizzes together.
I'm hoping to be back to enough of my usual self to post polls and quizzes next week! I just need to rest this week in order to make sure I can return to as much of my 'normal' programming as I can as quickly as I can.
Thank you for always being so understanding of my health stuff. I know it's far from the typical YouTube upload schedule, and I'm always so grateful that you all roll with my unusual schedule as much as you do. 💚
1 week ago | [YT] | 19
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ArchaeoPlays
Hey Everyone! No poll today - I had a ROUGH chronic health week last week and am still recovering. Hopefully I'm alright enough to post a quiz on Thursday for you all!
1 week ago | [YT] | 5
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ArchaeoPlays
This is for all of you OG Minecrafters out there: Which came first?
Still talking full releases, but for a hint, none of these came out after Alpha editions.
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 2
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ArchaeoPlays
Divisive poll for a Tuesday, but what's your preferred scaffolding block while building?
YouTube only lets me have 4 options, so if you use something else, write it in the comments!
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 6
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ArchaeoPlays
Quiz Time! What block is closer to the full release of magma blocks than it is to the release of version 1.0.0?
We're dealing only with FULL RELEASES here - no snapshots or previews, etc.!
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 2
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ArchaeoPlays
It's spooky season! What's your favourite Minecraft blocks for October/Halloween vibes?
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 6
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ArchaeoPlays
What's up in Archaeology this week? And last week, to a degree, because I completely missed last week's post!
Firstly, ENORMOUS news here in Scotland - the community on Lismore organised their own excavation and discovered and early medieval monastery that was similarly important to Iona!!! www.theguardian.com/science/2026/oct/01/lismore-ar…
Archaeologists have also found the school where Aristotle taught Alexander the Great: www.livescience.com/archaeology/nearly-2-400-year-…
Some colleagues of mine also found evidence for a jewellery workshop at Govan, here in Glasgow: www.thenational.scot/news/26558328.medieval-jewell…
Soldiers looking for old landmines in South Korea have found the nation's oldest known gunpowder weapon: www.zmescience.com/science/archaeology/oldest-kore…
Archaeologists in Chile have found bones with butchery marks dating to 13,000 years ago: www.livescience.com/archaeology/americas/13-000-ye…
New skeletal analysis shows that young adults (not families) were the primary people migrating in Bronze Age Greece: www.gu.se/en/news/new-study-reveals-bronze-age-mob…
Archaeologists in Basel have found a nearly-intact medieval heating system at the site of the former Gnadental monastery: www.swissinfo.ch/eng/various/swiss-archaeologists-…
The USA has repatriated several pieces of Cretan armour to Greece decades after an illegal excavation at Afrati: greekreporter.com/2026/09/22/looted-cretan-armor-r…
Laser scans show 23 previously unknown carvings of boats on Bronze Age temple wall in Cyprus: phys.org/news/2026-09-laser-scans-reveal-hidden-sh…
Early English coins found near the Vatican show permanent immigrant community in the early medieval period: archaeologymag.com/2026/10/anglo-saxon-coins-found…
Archaeologists have found a medieval fortress and rare clay water pipe at Posa, Germany: archaeologymag.com/2026/10/medieval-fortress-and-w…
Analysis of fossils in South Africa found between 1992 and 2019 shows Homo erectus lived there earlier than previously thought: archaeologymag.com/2026/09/homo-erectus-lived-in-a…
And more than 30 Iron Age houses have been found in Galgenbichl, Italy: archaeologymag.com/2026/09/iron-age-houses-found-a…
There is a LOT more news from the last two weeks, but YouTube limits how much I can say in these posts. If you want to see more, check out archaeology.org/news/ and archaeologymag.com/news/archaeology/
I'll also post a lot of these on my discord or on BlueSky, too! (@archaeoplays on BlueSky or discord.gg/Bm46M4zZFs to join the Discord server).
4 weeks ago | [YT] | 6
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ArchaeoPlays
For anyone wanting to catch my talk this weekend for the Pictish Arts Society, please note ***the time has changed to Sunday 4 October at 15:50 UK-time***. Very sadly, Dr. Rena Maguire passed away suddenly last week, and as she was due to present before me, we've changed the schedule around so that we can pay a tribute to her at the end of the conference.
If you would like to attend, this is a completely digital conference, so you can sign up at www.ticketsource.com/the-pictish-arts-society/pas-…
Tickets do cost money, so as always, no pressure, but you are always welcome to attend!
(Also, archaeology news for this week WILL get posted, probably tomorrow morning, because today my brain is gone!)
1 month ago | [YT] | 5
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