I am going into this blind, archaeologists don't have the structure files for real life structures. PLEASE DO NOT POST THE STRUCTURE NAMES IN THE COMMENTS
I would wager (I watch Time Team) that the floors that are two blocks high on many of these structures, are collapsed ceilings. Flat roofs, wooden support and trims having degraded.
There were people doing that? I thought 'em lads would at least know it's more interesting when information only the builders of the structures or the descent of those builders would know is present; of which the ancient city residents as ancestors _are_ in fact unidentified, hence making specific information like that up to assumption and analysis.
@@Todija, there's a structure block in Minecraft which can only be obtained through commands. How this block functions is that it allows you to generate Minecraft's preset structures. I assume he is asking that we don't spoil the file names for those structures in the Ancient City.
Would they? The way bricks cracked might also reveal something about a location. Wear and tear is iirc a large indicator of the purpose of an item, like millstones that have trace amounts of grains embedded that allow reconstructing what the inhabitants had been eating. Cracks in bricks might indicate whether or not the remaining structures used to have second floors, how the loads of the roof were distributed and thus what the roof's shape might have been etc I'm a layperson so I don't know how well all that tracks, but just removing the wear and tear on the real location might destroy much of the knowledge the site may have been hanging on to for thousands of years
@@KarolOfGutovo Yeah, but I assume restoration is done WAY after all that information has been documented, stored, discussed, and now those cracks are no longer needed because all the knowledge is stored on gigabytes of models, files and studies
I'm under the belief that the city was built to study or exploit the sculk. The wool floors, the Swift Sneak enchanted pants (which lets you move faster when sneaking), the enchanted hoes (which mine sculk faster), it all seems perfect for managing this cosmic horror. They knew the danger.
Ooh I like this! I wonder if they underestimated the ferocity of it and they lost the city to it, or they abandoned it when done with it. A lot of construction for something they were going to abandon though. Maybe they thought they could control it and just lost control over it.
If the Game Theory episode on the ancient city is to be believed, then the people living here were using the sculk and the warden as a defense mechanism against the wither. But that's just a theory, and I personally think that the sculk leaked into the city via the portal, like how ruined nether portals are surrounded by nether rack. But no one theory is correct, minecraft is very open ended.
RetroGamingNow's theory is that the sculk came first and that the portal thing isn't a portal at all, but an artificial catalyst. Watch his video to understand what I'm waffling about.
Well there are redstone lamps that are powered by sculk sensors which means that it was built like that. I think they were using the sculk and lost control of it
My theory is that the city was built around the idea of using Sculk as a main resource. They used the "Portal" as a sort of Crucible with the purpose of infusing more Soul from Soul Sand into the Sculk, to create new life even. This backfired, as all the Sculk Shriekers and Sculk around Ancient Cities became too "self-ware", creating a new lifeform similar to the Wither, the Warden. The people tried to create means to counterract the Warden: artificial snow for Snowballs, Piston Doors to lock out the Warden, Swift Sneak, Amethyst crystals (which can be used to create Calibrated Sculk, which only responds to specific noise levels instead of any noise) The Warden's rampage is in theory the reason why the Sculk had spread so sporadically throughout the Ancient City, as undead mobs, spiders, witches and creepers themselves can't usually be encountered in those places.
Yeah, restoring things to how they have been in the past also runs a risk of restoring it wrong. Like the trail ruins tower - we still don't know which version is the correct one.
I like the approach to restoration used in the Roman Colosseum, intentional visible distinction between the original structure and the bits of restoration. What was done there too was just off of what was confirmed by what was there. Like yes, the whole sail roofing and everything could probably be built, but they focused mostly on completing the structure that was already there without being too intrusive on the original and not altering much. A ruined pillar about to collapse? Build some obvious metal beams to keep it from collapsing without altering or replacing the original structure
We can always cross-reference with other sites. There’s other trail ruins, which could have similar buildings, and other cities might have less sculk! (Or you could cheat, and use structure blocks to summon sculk free ones..)
I don't know exactly how this actually works in archeology, but the color pallet for the Ancient City being just shades of grey makes me think of how people used to think Roman statues and stuff were always plain white marble. Is it possible that the Ancient City used to be a lot more colorful and the paint (or whatever materials were used) have worn off? Especially since there are more recent additions (the wood and light blue wool) that *do* have distinct colors.
I love that you addressed the concerns archaeologists would have with "restoring" the buildings based on interpretation. It's scary because you might rebuild it wrong but you also might learn more about the ancient people in the process so there are definitely pros and cons. That's a very real issue in archaeology and it is excellent that you covered it.
This episode was fascinating for me! I really enjoyed the puzzle aspect of observing the same buildings in various states of disrepair to figure out what blocks were used in each spot.
Could it be possible that, on the buildings, the cobbled deepslate represents where brick/tile has collapsed and broken down over the centuries or milennia? On the buildings repaired in this episode, you see that the bottom layer is brick yet at points there's a single bit of cobbled deepslate, for example.
Yes, this episode he returned the structure to its non-skulk "ruined" state. In the future I would assume most of the finished restored structures will have very little cobbled deep slate, majority being turned into chiseled, tiled, or deep slate bricks. Every structure will most likely be taken to a ruined state first, then restored to how it would have looked in its heyday.
@@daskalosBCE It's gonna be so cool once the world save file is released. Then we can admire the passion and effort that went into restoring these ruins to the closest irl interpretation of what they appeared like.
I had a thought that I don’t think is correct but figured I’d throw it out there anyway: what if these buildings didn’t have roofs? I mean if all of these buildings were built underground where there’s no weather and a natural stone ceiling, what purpose would having a roof serve besides aesthetics? I suppose privacy, security, and noise-cancellation are all still good reasons. I do think Daskalos is probably correct in thinking they were made of something that broke down over time like wood, but it does make you wonder how different the methods of building would be in a place like this. It would be quite the journey to carry that much wood underground when stone is much more easily accessible, so was that an intentional choice? If they had access to the surface, why not just build up there? Why even build so deep underground in such an isolated and dangerous place? So many questions…🤔
This reminds me of the cave cities built by North American Indians. I'm thinking of the ones in Mesa Verde National Park. Another idea is the Lord of the Rings dwarven society.
Its, actually, very likely they had wooden roofs and stairs. But, after the skulk infestation, it was either eaten up by the skulk, or were removed for their own safety as wood creaking could alert the warden.
We'll call replacing the cracked blocks with pristine bricks "the hired help", all the workers and professionals, and some grad students who chipped in.
It was so satisfying to watch all the skulk get replaced. I always had the personal theory that the warden was always there even before the skulk began to exist, as a guardian like the iron golem in villages-but the skulk got so corruptive that it infected the warden, turning it into a beast that helps continue the cycle. But we won't really know for sure, the skulk and ancient cities are surrounded in pure mystery. Really cool to see the work, and hear the clear communication to rebuild this city!
Lmfao I love Daskalos in these videos. It's literally just Oda: *asks a question Daskalos: Well actually *proceeds to explain in detail for 5 minutes and repeat that for half an hour
Something i would suggest, If we want to discuss things that the ancient cities might have been able to exploit, The centre-piece of the cities is often called a portal frame, With many fan-theories suggesting that there might be a skulk dimension, Which is why Skulk is focused solely around these cities, While thats entirely theory, There is also another set of things to think of. A) These Cities or Skulk, One or the Other, are Focused around Each Other. B) Skulk "Grows" When Mobs Die, Absorbing either their Soul or Bodies. C) When Broken, Skulk released ALOT Of XP, Which is used in one of the highest technological things in Minecraft, Enchanting. D) There is a lot of Skulk-Proofing in the City with all of the Wool and choice of Hard-to-Infest Blocks, Despite how far Skulk Infestation spreads in the caves around the City. For this reason i think its safe to assume that these cities might have been built to exploit and "Farm" Skulk, They are located on major skulk deposits and underground where many mobs exist for "Sacrifice" to the skulk, in order to let it grow and collect XP from it for enchanting... While the amount of skulk perhaps suggests that didnt exactly end-well for the residents, It is something to think about in regards to Skulk as a Tool that these ancient peoples might have utilised. Wether personally or for Economic reasons with other settlements.
I’ve always been so interested about ruins in minecraft, I love whenever I find them and just start excavating them right away, I’m so glad I found this channel!!
You probably have already thought of this, but at some places there are dark oak logs and wooden planks, they would've decomposed if they were built in the same time as the rest, so it would have been added way later, and seeing as another comment on another video (I think Ep. 2) said that it probably was the pillagers, I think the same, and think you could do something else with the wooden bits. Great videos just like always! Love ya!
and it could be a chance to talk about what people do if they encounter that situation in real life, where you have a ruin that was tampered with by some other party decades afterwards
It is also possible that something about the ambient of the city makes it have low propensity for decomposition. If you consider the ice is preserved there widout melting (if minecraft had the same physics as our world), the city could be so cold the you have very little decomposition.
Dudes, this coordination for restoring the buildings with clear communication and feedback was super cool to watch. I really enjoyed this episode, and appreciate that you used world edit to fix large chunks, rather than filling it by hand with a long time lapse. It feels like you really respect the viewer’s time! (And your own, I’m sure.)
awh I always had a theory that the developers of minecraft have or are making a lore around minecraft so im really curious if they have a secret blueprint of how the ancient cities would have looked like. who knows! love this series! keep it up :)
The process of manually replacing each block in these buildings seems quite laborious, so I've got some more worldedit wizardry for you if you want it. You can copy the structure to an external location with //copy and //paste, and then you can use //gmask red_stained_glass. What this does is apply a mask to your commands so they will only replace red stained glass. What you can then do is copy paste the other versions of the structure onto that same external location, so you end up with the most complete version of the structure by essentially overlapping all versions in one place. You could then either copy/paste that back to the original locations, or manually replace the blocks based on that "most complete version", rather than having to reference every structure. You would, of course, still want to manually check for discrepancies in block type between version of the structure, but based on this first building it seems like that's not an issue.
a really good mod that could be used to "compare" buildings like mentioned at 16:40 , Litematica is like a blueprint mod so you can copy and see the similarities in the blocks and tells you which is the right block, what needs to be air, or if its wrong, so like if you have a red glass block in lets say Build 2 and the schematic says its deepslate brick, you can assume it would be that
Watching this while ascending my space-faring civilization in Stellaris, leaving behind planets full of archaeological sites for future archaeologists to explore was an experience!
I love this series so far, and as someone who is in the process of restoring an ancient city in survival minecraft, its really fun and challenging finding patterns in the builds and continuing them throughout the build, trying to figure out how they looked in the past. I'm also really jealous of world edit, would make my life a lot easier
This series has been so satisfying to watch. The whole-cloth replacement with glass made the city come to life. I can't wait to see the final renditions.
I honestly love the idea of this having lore and a secret story lol. Keep the story going with future Seasons IE ocean ruins or something lol, it adds to it.
Don't know about anyone else, but the Ancient City has always given me MAJOR Pompei vibes, especially with the addition of some bathhouses given recent excavations in Pompei. A city suddenly struck by a devastating event (i.e vesuvius and The Sculk/Warden respectively), and those who come later have to put pieces back together. I'm privy to the theory that the Cities were built to escape the Wither that Ancient Builders created by accident, and that the gate in the center was an ultimate way out, only to let the Warden and the Sculk in, so if there were some who survived the initial event, they could have started using the wool blocks to try and keep in the home they only recently created. Tired of running from their problems. Maybe even using carpet/wool from their own houses to try and adapt to the Sculk, though the looter idea seems a lot more probable. Know how to avoid him, and the Warden isn't much of an issue. And with how Sculk spreads, I can only imagine what happened to have an Ancient City SMOTHERED in the stuff...
A massacre, perhaps? Maybe the wither got in and killed everyone before it was taken down by the warden. But if that was the case, wouldn’t there be signs of destruction?
@@theKhaosFactor I would think so, yes. The disc 5 fragments supports this, I think. They manage the open the portal, some or even most are lost to he Wither, then the Warden beats it and those who are left try and remain. That's how the carpet gets into those odd spots. And who's to say there isn't signs of destruction? The only organic material in the city other than placed wood from the Illagers/Looters is the Sculk... And the Wither Effect doesn't do anything to stone, only life. And with how many holes there are in walls, not just in THIS Ancient City, but more than one of them, I'm hard pressed to say these aren't blast impacts from the Wither. Plus... Sculk survives on souls, it seems. And the Warden has three in him at all times. Like the Overworld's version of Soul Sand. Plants need food, and personally, I see Sculk almost like a moss or fungus, and those need food... decomposing things work wonders. Plus, the Warden's name I think is important. Wardens are a person responsible for the supervision of a particular place or thing or for ensuring that regulations associated with it are obeyed. Most commonly thought of as a PRISON Warden... Mayhaps to keep the Sculk in? To keep the Player out? Or... to feed into the 'regulations' of the Sculk? Protect it, feed it... help it spread. It's drop IS a Sculk Catalyst. One last chance to help it spread should it be beaten.
Just a thought, as many of the smaller structures are repeated, perhaps you could leave one of each in its 'ruined' state so visitors can get an almost side-by-side view of the partially restored and speculative versions?
Something I do when excavating the trail ruins is placing coloured glass where I think blocks would have been. I also do this for the surface so I’ll place green for grass and brown for path blocks ect. I had one spawn in a village and it was great to see it like a monument to how long that settlement has been there. Like they kept building on that spot for generations.
9:16 I once visited a castle in France that was partially restored, but they decided to use visibly different materials from the originals, so we could see what remained of the castle, but also have a few of how it's original shape probably was. In the case here, an idea would be to use stone bricks and similar materials instead of the deepslate ones.
Skulk spreads when creatures die near skulk catalysts right? I wonder if you could use the position of where the skulk has spread and where the catalysts are to try to determine where and how many creatures (or people) must have died in the area
To my knowledge sculk spreads based on the amount of xp dropped by mobs that die within 8 blocks of the catalyst. This would make figuring out how many mobs died pretty much impossible unless you knew what species of mobs had died. Still though you could definitely get a range or a rough average if you knew what the exact ratio between blocks to xp is, I can’t seem to find a good source for that anywhere.
DUde, if this is somewhat close to archeology, I wish I still had that dream of Archeology... It looks so fun unearthing Ancient Ruins of Humanity's past!
Looking at the city as a whole again, with my opinion, the building that looks like a warden looking for a belly rub kind of looks like a minature version of the city. Mainly with what looks like the head might actually be the center portal. Or maybe a place for them to pray or appreciate the portal without going to the portal
I absolutely love these archeology vids! Really unique Minecraft content! Idea for the next project (when you finish this one off course): Stronghold! Not as big and ambitious, but can be interesting too!
The restoration is coming along, very excited to see your interpretations of each building! I always love how close to real world ideas you stay, as fun as the fantastical can be, its SO interesting to see such a methodical and careful method!
Man, this is great. It is interesting to see how it to be restoredz without using the files what it is called. Love the explanation of how archeology, works in the real world. Been absolutely enjoying the series so far.
23:07 - It was very interesting hearing your comments on how some archeologists "look down" on adding to or restoring sites, and it reminded me at once of a quote by Douglas Adams (see below). Not only is it an interesting reflection on Eastern vs Western thinking but also the philosophical stances and conundrums of "The Ship of Theseus" vs "The Living Temple." I truly don't believe one stance is superior to the other but it's fascinating to see how different people and cultures view preserving history and what makes it valuable/historical in the first place. "I remembered once, in Japan, having been to see the Gold Pavilion Temple in Kyoto and being mildly surprised at quite how well it had weathered the passage of time since it was first built in the fourteenth century. I was told it hadn’t weathered well at all, and had in fact been burnt to the ground twice in this century. “So it isn’t the original building?” I had asked my Japanese guide. “But yes, of course it is,” he insisted, rather surprised at my question. “But it’s been burnt down?” “Yes.” “Twice?” “Many times.” “And rebuilt.” “Of course. It is an important and historic building.” “With completely new materials.” “But of course. It was burnt down.” “So how can it be the same building?” “It is always the same building.” I had to admit to myself that this was in fact a perfectly rational point of view, it merely started from an unexpected premise. The idea of the building, the intention of it, its design, are all immutable and are the essence of the building. The intention of the original builders is what survived. The wood of which the design is constructed decays and is replaced when necessary. To be overly concerned with the original materials, which are merely sentimental souvenirs of the past, is to fail to see the living building itself.” -- Douglas Adams
This reminds me of Knossos. The restoration of the ruins are often criticized, since there is no way of knowing if it was exactly like that. But the way you talked about it it seems much closer to restoration of relatively modern historical buildings, which is much more common than something like Knossos.
On the front of the structures you restored, I think there might be a single step and fences along the rest. This would fit the watch tower, and could explain why there is only a single step. And judging by the rest of the structures, they probably had actual stair blocks on that step.
I'm storyboarding an idea for a wilderness survival game a la minecraft and these videos are giving me great insight on how to make archeo. generated structures since I'm more of a paleo guy (mammals are losers, dinosaurs for the win)
(Canonically(according to game theory)) the wooden towers were made by pillagers or adventurers later on. Which is why the blue carpet is above the gray, and the wooden planks are kinda creating paths.
You would probably love Vintage Story. It's a minecraft esque game that is FULL of ruins of a past civilization, and multiple books and scrolls that can be found giving hints on the lives of your predecessors. I can't say much in order to avoid spoilers, but it sounds like the perfect game for you to do this kind of archeological restoration!
Great Video! I would suggest, to better restore those repeated structures, to take screenshots of it's every face (front, top, back, right and left) and catalogue, because one might have an original block that's missing on others, I think it will ease the work. Keep doing it!
I know this is probably a bit late, but using the mod litematica can be a huge help when trying to make identical buildings with different levels of decay match up.(For a more complete building) it allows you to overlay the buildings and paste in parts of other ones. it would be like doing 3D imaging on broken pottery(ect) to line up the peices and make a complete 3d reconstruction.
I remember in one of the tutorial worlds (I think the first one with elytra) I just went around and restored the giant pillars in each corner of the map
"if only we could take a photo or something" me when i press alt+printscreen & just paste it into a doc or gimp or whatever else you can paste images into
they should get yall on minecraft education edition kinda stuff, this is the kinda stuff modern minecraft is made for. using minecraft to teach real concepts to kids
This is how they messed up the great pyramid. At the top of the grand gallery was a worn down stone that they 'fixed', but i believe it was meant to look like that.
me: reads description also me: if anyone takes minecraft too seriously may have a problem. minecraft is a fun time of building with blocks in a world free of the real world physics
Thousands of ancient cities sounds right. My world has 3 of them fairly close together. As in I can see all 3 of them on a 3:4 map. This is the Java seed 2,862,766,470 And this is the bedrock seed -1,432,200,826 It's actually a pretty cool seed if anyone wants to load it up. The north city is at about -647, -41, -690 Then there's one directly south and one directly east of it. There's also mineshafts cutting into the South one.
The reason the floor is just regular Deepslate, gravel and the like, is because that floor is technically not part of the actual ancient city structure. You can find some patches of blocks and slaps here and there so I guess the actual floor of the city would be Deepslate bricks and brick slaps right on top of the regular deep slate layer
i would suggest for when rebuilding to replace the Cobbled Deepslate with something cleaner like the tiles or brick, as the structures are very cleanly built unlike early civilizations that would use cobble or wood and dirt, the structures here feel more Roman-like or Greek-like with how they are built, like a sort of higher society that doesn't use messy blocks, so cobble might be rubble of what used to be there, like very destroyed bricks or tiles. idk just a thought
Yknow i heard of this shrine in japan, its been there for a long long time. Burned down 3 times, but its still considered the same building. Restoration is kinda like that
Question: is it true that there's a convincing amount of evidence to suggest a lot of the marble preserved from the past in Italy was once painted? When you restore a site like this, do you usually just restore materials in kind, or does repainting it ever happen? Could this site have been more colorful in the past possibly?
Every greek statue that is stark white today was once painted. When analyzed, flecks or residue of paint can be found. Temples were also painted. Matter of fact, the "Elgin marbles" that were stolen from Greece and are now in the British museum used to have paint on them, but a wealthy donor paid the museum to "scrub that dirt off of them" or something like that.
@@daskalosBCE What kinda stinks about the painted statues that I'm reminded of every time someone mentions them is that we're really only sure of what the base coat's colors are like, and that they could've had some pretty fancy and elaborate layers of coloring and paints or special handmade paint texturing or something, I really wish some day we find out some way to learn what they looked like completed.
I am going into this blind, archaeologists don't have the structure files for real life structures. PLEASE DO NOT POST THE STRUCTURE NAMES IN THE COMMENTS
I would wager (I watch Time Team) that the floors that are two blocks high on many of these structures, are collapsed ceilings. Flat roofs, wooden support and trims having degraded.
At least with so many copies of set structures you can leave some ruined and repair others.
There were people doing that? I thought 'em lads would at least know it's more interesting when information only the builders of the structures or the descent of those builders would know is present; of which the ancient city residents as ancestors _are_ in fact unidentified, hence making specific information like that up to assumption and analysis.
@@Todija, there's a structure block in Minecraft which can only be obtained through commands. How this block functions is that it allows you to generate Minecraft's preset structures. I assume he is asking that we don't spoil the file names for those structures in the Ancient City.
@@equilibrium_law why would he care if anyone posted the file names for those structures?
The ability to use spells to uncrack bricks seems like something archaeologists would love.
Would they? The way bricks cracked might also reveal something about a location. Wear and tear is iirc a large indicator of the purpose of an item, like millstones that have trace amounts of grains embedded that allow reconstructing what the inhabitants had been eating. Cracks in bricks might indicate whether or not the remaining structures used to have second floors, how the loads of the roof were distributed and thus what the roof's shape might have been etc
I'm a layperson so I don't know how well all that tracks, but just removing the wear and tear on the real location might destroy much of the knowledge the site may have been hanging on to for thousands of years
@@KarolOfGutovo Yeah, but I assume restoration is done WAY after all that information has been documented, stored, discussed, and now those cracks are no longer needed because all the knowledge is stored on gigabytes of models, files and studies
I'm under the belief that the city was built to study or exploit the sculk. The wool floors, the Swift Sneak enchanted pants (which lets you move faster when sneaking), the enchanted hoes (which mine sculk faster), it all seems perfect for managing this cosmic horror. They knew the danger.
Ooh I like this! I wonder if they underestimated the ferocity of it and they lost the city to it, or they abandoned it when done with it. A lot of construction for something they were going to abandon though. Maybe they thought they could control it and just lost control over it.
If the Game Theory episode on the ancient city is to be believed, then the people living here were using the sculk and the warden as a defense mechanism against the wither. But that's just a theory, and I personally think that the sculk leaked into the city via the portal, like how ruined nether portals are surrounded by nether rack. But no one theory is correct, minecraft is very open ended.
RetroGamingNow's theory is that the sculk came first and that the portal thing isn't a portal at all, but an artificial catalyst. Watch his video to understand what I'm waffling about.
Well there are redstone lamps that are powered by sculk sensors which means that it was built like that. I think they were using the sculk and lost control of it
My theory is that the city was built around the idea of using Sculk as a main resource.
They used the "Portal" as a sort of Crucible with the purpose of infusing more Soul from Soul Sand into the Sculk, to create new life even.
This backfired, as all the Sculk Shriekers and Sculk around Ancient Cities became too "self-ware", creating a new lifeform similar to the Wither, the Warden. The people tried to create means to counterract the Warden: artificial snow for Snowballs, Piston Doors to lock out the Warden, Swift Sneak, Amethyst crystals (which can be used to create Calibrated Sculk, which only responds to specific noise levels instead of any noise)
The Warden's rampage is in theory the reason why the Sculk had spread so sporadically throughout the Ancient City, as undead mobs, spiders, witches and creepers themselves can't usually be encountered in those places.
Yeah, restoring things to how they have been in the past also runs a risk of restoring it wrong. Like the trail ruins tower - we still don't know which version is the correct one.
Or if any of those is the correct one.
I like the approach to restoration used in the Roman Colosseum, intentional visible distinction between the original structure and the bits of restoration. What was done there too was just off of what was confirmed by what was there. Like yes, the whole sail roofing and everything could probably be built, but they focused mostly on completing the structure that was already there without being too intrusive on the original and not altering much. A ruined pillar about to collapse? Build some obvious metal beams to keep it from collapsing without altering or replacing the original structure
@@poopa_stinka Yeah, that makes sense.
We can always cross-reference with other sites. There’s other trail ruins, which could have similar buildings, and other cities might have less sculk! (Or you could cheat, and use structure blocks to summon sculk free ones..)
That guy who poured concrete over the Knossos palace needed to hear this.
I don't know exactly how this actually works in archeology, but the color pallet for the Ancient City being just shades of grey makes me think of how people used to think Roman statues and stuff were always plain white marble. Is it possible that the Ancient City used to be a lot more colorful and the paint (or whatever materials were used) have worn off? Especially since there are more recent additions (the wood and light blue wool) that *do* have distinct colors.
yeah youre probably right
i did see another reconstructions that used quartz instead giving it a more Ancient Roman look
The recent additions are evidence of pillagers
I doubt it since even delicate materials like wool are still preserved
Most old statues were painted. Why wouldn't they be? What's probably more relevant here is how the materials age.
I love that you addressed the concerns archaeologists would have with "restoring" the buildings based on interpretation. It's scary because you might rebuild it wrong but you also might learn more about the ancient people in the process so there are definitely pros and cons. That's a very real issue in archaeology and it is excellent that you covered it.
This episode was fascinating for me! I really enjoyed the puzzle aspect of observing the same buildings in various states of disrepair to figure out what blocks were used in each spot.
Could it be possible that, on the buildings, the cobbled deepslate represents where brick/tile has collapsed and broken down over the centuries or milennia? On the buildings repaired in this episode, you see that the bottom layer is brick yet at points there's a single bit of cobbled deepslate, for example.
Yes, this episode he returned the structure to its non-skulk "ruined" state. In the future I would assume most of the finished restored structures will have very little cobbled deep slate, majority being turned into chiseled, tiled, or deep slate bricks. Every structure will most likely be taken to a ruined state first, then restored to how it would have looked in its heyday.
That is very possible but unfortunately something we may never know. I suspect that, much like the trail ruins ill do two seperate reconstructions
Was about to post the same thing. Thought I'd look before repeating it, lol.
@@daskalosBCE It's gonna be so cool once the world save file is released. Then we can admire the passion and effort that went into restoring these ruins to the closest irl interpretation of what they appeared like.
I had a thought that I don’t think is correct but figured I’d throw it out there anyway: what if these buildings didn’t have roofs? I mean if all of these buildings were built underground where there’s no weather and a natural stone ceiling, what purpose would having a roof serve besides aesthetics? I suppose privacy, security, and noise-cancellation are all still good reasons. I do think Daskalos is probably correct in thinking they were made of something that broke down over time like wood, but it does make you wonder how different the methods of building would be in a place like this. It would be quite the journey to carry that much wood underground when stone is much more easily accessible, so was that an intentional choice? If they had access to the surface, why not just build up there? Why even build so deep underground in such an isolated and dangerous place? So many questions…🤔
With how cool it can be underground, it's possible they had roofs to trap warmth as well
or you could build roofs to stop two foot tall spiders from falling on you
This reminds me of the cave cities built by North American Indians. I'm thinking of the ones in Mesa Verde National Park. Another idea is the Lord of the Rings dwarven society.
Its, actually, very likely they had wooden roofs and stairs. But, after the skulk infestation, it was either eaten up by the skulk, or were removed for their own safety as wood creaking could alert the warden.
Putting something underground to keep something from the surface from interfering… or for keeping something quarantined
We'll call replacing the cracked blocks with pristine bricks "the hired help", all the workers and professionals, and some grad students who chipped in.
Exactly what I was thinking.
It was so satisfying to watch all the skulk get replaced. I always had the personal theory that the warden was always there even before the skulk began to exist, as a guardian like the iron golem in villages-but the skulk got so corruptive that it infected the warden, turning it into a beast that helps continue the cycle. But we won't really know for sure, the skulk and ancient cities are surrounded in pure mystery. Really cool to see the work, and hear the clear communication to rebuild this city!
That would make sense. The iron golem is somewhat similar and is overgrown by vines. Skulk could be even worse.
Lmfao I love Daskalos in these videos. It's literally just
Oda: *asks a question
Daskalos: Well actually *proceeds to explain in detail for 5 minutes
and repeat that for half an hour
It’s great to have Oda to be the Watson, he asks the questions that a lot of us probably have.
The Dark Oak towers remind me of Pillager Outposts.
Something i would suggest, If we want to discuss things that the ancient cities might have been able to exploit, The centre-piece of the cities is often called a portal frame, With many fan-theories suggesting that there might be a skulk dimension, Which is why Skulk is focused solely around these cities, While thats entirely theory, There is also another set of things to think of.
A) These Cities or Skulk, One or the Other, are Focused around Each Other.
B) Skulk "Grows" When Mobs Die, Absorbing either their Soul or Bodies.
C) When Broken, Skulk released ALOT Of XP, Which is used in one of the highest technological things in Minecraft, Enchanting.
D) There is a lot of Skulk-Proofing in the City with all of the Wool and choice of Hard-to-Infest Blocks, Despite how far Skulk Infestation spreads in the caves around the City.
For this reason i think its safe to assume that these cities might have been built to exploit and "Farm" Skulk, They are located on major skulk deposits and underground where many mobs exist for "Sacrifice" to the skulk, in order to let it grow and collect XP from it for enchanting... While the amount of skulk perhaps suggests that didnt exactly end-well for the residents, It is something to think about in regards to Skulk as a Tool that these ancient peoples might have utilised. Wether personally or for Economic reasons with other settlements.
"ALOT of XP" is a bit of an overstatement though? A single sculk block drops 1 xp when broken
I’ve always been so interested about ruins in minecraft, I love whenever I find them and just start excavating them right away, I’m so glad I found this channel!!
I love how the amethyst geodes are almost completely left alone which makes them more visible on the map than the entire city! 😂
You probably have already thought of this, but at some places there are dark oak logs and wooden planks, they would've decomposed if they were built in the same time as the rest, so it would have been added way later, and seeing as another comment on another video (I think Ep. 2) said that it probably was the pillagers, I think the same, and think you could do something else with the wooden bits. Great videos just like always! Love ya!
and it could be a chance to talk about what people do if they encounter that situation in real life, where you have a ruin that was tampered with by some other party decades afterwards
It is also possible that something about the ambient of the city makes it have low propensity for decomposition.
If you consider the ice is preserved there widout melting (if minecraft had the same physics as our world), the city could be so cold the you have very little decomposition.
Dudes, this coordination for restoring the buildings with clear communication and feedback was super cool to watch. I really enjoyed this episode, and appreciate that you used world edit to fix large chunks, rather than filling it by hand with a long time lapse. It feels like you really respect the viewer’s time! (And your own, I’m sure.)
awh I always had a theory that the developers of minecraft have or are making a lore around minecraft so im really curious if they have a secret blueprint of how the ancient cities would have looked like. who knows! love this series! keep it up :)
I am dead certain that the cobbled blocks are further ruined brick and tile, meaning it was never an intended part of the structures
i wouldnt say that for certain. coubbled stone can still have been used as a building material
The process of manually replacing each block in these buildings seems quite laborious, so I've got some more worldedit wizardry for you if you want it. You can copy the structure to an external location with //copy and //paste, and then you can use //gmask red_stained_glass. What this does is apply a mask to your commands so they will only replace red stained glass. What you can then do is copy paste the other versions of the structure onto that same external location, so you end up with the most complete version of the structure by essentially overlapping all versions in one place. You could then either copy/paste that back to the original locations, or manually replace the blocks based on that "most complete version", rather than having to reference every structure.
You would, of course, still want to manually check for discrepancies in block type between version of the structure, but based on this first building it seems like that's not an issue.
a really good mod that could be used to "compare" buildings like mentioned at 16:40 , Litematica is like a blueprint mod so you can copy and see the similarities in the blocks and tells you which is the right block, what needs to be air, or if its wrong, so like if you have a red glass block in lets say Build 2 and the schematic says its deepslate brick, you can assume it would be that
I love chill Minceraft content like this. Well written too.
As someone who wasn't interested in history or anything like this in school, I am finding this process bizarrely fascinating.
I've missed a series like this. I hate it when YT make these restoration videos but then change so much only the core of the structure stays the same
Watching this while ascending my space-faring civilization in Stellaris, leaving behind planets full of archaeological sites for future archaeologists to explore was an experience!
I love this series so far, and as someone who is in the process of restoring an ancient city in survival minecraft, its really fun and challenging finding patterns in the builds and continuing them throughout the build, trying to figure out how they looked in the past. I'm also really jealous of world edit, would make my life a lot easier
I wouldn’t do it without world edit
OK the "Belly Rubs" area will forever live in my head now. The Ancient City may scare me but will always make me giggle now. Thank you! :D
This series has been so satisfying to watch. The whole-cloth replacement with glass made the city come to life. I can't wait to see the final renditions.
I honestly love the idea of this having lore and a secret story lol. Keep the story going with future Seasons IE ocean ruins or something lol, it adds to it.
Don't know about anyone else, but the Ancient City has always given me MAJOR Pompei vibes, especially with the addition of some bathhouses given recent excavations in Pompei. A city suddenly struck by a devastating event (i.e vesuvius and The Sculk/Warden respectively), and those who come later have to put pieces back together. I'm privy to the theory that the Cities were built to escape the Wither that Ancient Builders created by accident, and that the gate in the center was an ultimate way out, only to let the Warden and the Sculk in, so if there were some who survived the initial event, they could have started using the wool blocks to try and keep in the home they only recently created. Tired of running from their problems. Maybe even using carpet/wool from their own houses to try and adapt to the Sculk, though the looter idea seems a lot more probable. Know how to avoid him, and the Warden isn't much of an issue. And with how Sculk spreads, I can only imagine what happened to have an Ancient City SMOTHERED in the stuff...
A massacre, perhaps? Maybe the wither got in and killed everyone before it was taken down by the warden. But if that was the case, wouldn’t there be signs of destruction?
@@theKhaosFactor I would think so, yes. The disc 5 fragments supports this, I think. They manage the open the portal, some or even most are lost to he Wither, then the Warden beats it and those who are left try and remain. That's how the carpet gets into those odd spots. And who's to say there isn't signs of destruction? The only organic material in the city other than placed wood from the Illagers/Looters is the Sculk... And the Wither Effect doesn't do anything to stone, only life. And with how many holes there are in walls, not just in THIS Ancient City, but more than one of them, I'm hard pressed to say these aren't blast impacts from the Wither. Plus... Sculk survives on souls, it seems. And the Warden has three in him at all times. Like the Overworld's version of Soul Sand. Plants need food, and personally, I see Sculk almost like a moss or fungus, and those need food... decomposing things work wonders. Plus, the Warden's name I think is important. Wardens are a person responsible for the supervision of a particular place or thing or for ensuring that regulations associated with it are obeyed. Most commonly thought of as a PRISON Warden... Mayhaps to keep the Sculk in? To keep the Player out? Or... to feed into the 'regulations' of the Sculk? Protect it, feed it... help it spread. It's drop IS a Sculk Catalyst. One last chance to help it spread should it be beaten.
Just a thought, as many of the smaller structures are repeated, perhaps you could leave one of each in its 'ruined' state so visitors can get an almost side-by-side view of the partially restored and speculative versions?
Something I do when excavating the trail ruins is placing coloured glass where I think blocks would have been. I also do this for the surface so I’ll place green for grass and brown for path blocks ect. I had one spawn in a village and it was great to see it like a monument to how long that settlement has been there. Like they kept building on that spot for generations.
9:16
I once visited a castle in France that was partially restored, but they decided to use visibly different materials from the originals, so we could see what remained of the castle, but also have a few of how it's original shape probably was.
In the case here, an idea would be to use stone bricks and similar materials instead of the deepslate ones.
Skulk spreads when creatures die near skulk catalysts right? I wonder if you could use the position of where the skulk has spread and where the catalysts are to try to determine where and how many creatures (or people) must have died in the area
Not anymore! Which speaks to his point about losing stuff when doing restorations.
The sculk grows where the creature died and not out from the catalyst, so I'm not sure that that would work
@@austinrimel7860 The catalyst still needs to be nearby
@@Scribblersys,Good point! I don't have a counterpoint, so you're probably correct
To my knowledge sculk spreads based on the amount of xp dropped by mobs that die within 8 blocks of the catalyst. This would make figuring out how many mobs died pretty much impossible unless you knew what species of mobs had died.
Still though you could definitely get a range or a rough average if you knew what the exact ratio between blocks to xp is, I can’t seem to find a good source for that anywhere.
I am LOVING this series. I'm only at the map in the base camp and have so many thoughts. This serious is amazing.
DUde, if this is somewhat close to archeology, I wish I still had that dream of Archeology...
It looks so fun unearthing Ancient Ruins of Humanity's past!
Ah yes, everyone's favorite kind of architecture: *Belly Rubs*
Looking at the city as a whole again, with my opinion, the building that looks like a warden looking for a belly rub kind of looks like a minature version of the city. Mainly with what looks like the head might actually be the center portal. Or maybe a place for them to pray or appreciate the portal without going to the portal
aaaaand I'm officially hooked, this series is a great idea with a wonderful premise and great execution. I look forward to the next installment!
I absolutely love these archeology vids! Really unique Minecraft content!
Idea for the next project (when you finish this one off course): Stronghold! Not as big and ambitious, but can be interesting too!
The cinematography is incredible, but the knowledge on archeology is so inspiring. I love this series so much ❤ thank you for each episode
Something about watching this has me completely awe-struck
This is really cool! thanks for doing something both fun and approachable to younger audiences and introducing archeology techniques.
the white room reminds me of the persian Yakhchāl probably because of the ice and cold stuff
Man, I love Minecraft. Look at what people can do in the Block Game.
i just started watching this series like an hour ago. i was hoping a third episode was made. looks like i have good timing
The restoration is coming along, very excited to see your interpretations of each building! I always love how close to real world ideas you stay, as fun as the fantastical can be, its SO interesting to see such a methodical and careful method!
Im so glad to have found your channel. It exactly what i wanna see on my YT!
I just love the idea that you are playing Minecraft with friends doing the things you love.
holy cow... the opening to your video scared me... im in the middle of a game, in the dead of night, and the sudden footsteps were freaky...
I love this series! Can't wait for Episode 4!
I actually love this video please never change the way you make these videos , they are so amazing
Nice cliffhanger! Can't wait for the next one!
I really love the format of the video. Especially the intro
I love this series, you are a great pairing and it is a fascinating endeavor. I hope to follow along the whole way now that I have found it!
This is soo cool. Totally going to do more restoration style bases after your videos in my server world!
Man, this is great. It is interesting to see how it to be restoredz without using the files what it is called.
Love the explanation of how archeology, works in the real world. Been absolutely enjoying the series so far.
I’ve been really enjoying this series so far! ❤ it’s very interesting to hear what archaeologists do while seeing the same sort of thing in Minecraft
23:07 - It was very interesting hearing your comments on how some archeologists "look down" on adding to or restoring sites, and it reminded me at once of a quote by Douglas Adams (see below). Not only is it an interesting reflection on Eastern vs Western thinking but also the philosophical stances and conundrums of "The Ship of Theseus" vs "The Living Temple."
I truly don't believe one stance is superior to the other but it's fascinating to see how different people and cultures view preserving history and what makes it valuable/historical in the first place.
"I remembered once, in Japan, having been to see the Gold Pavilion Temple in Kyoto and being mildly surprised at quite how well it had weathered the passage of time since it was first built in the fourteenth century. I was told it hadn’t weathered well at all, and had in fact been burnt to the ground twice in this century. “So it isn’t the original building?” I had asked my Japanese guide. “But yes, of course it is,” he insisted, rather surprised at my question. “But it’s been burnt down?” “Yes.” “Twice?” “Many times.” “And rebuilt.” “Of course. It is an important and historic building.” “With completely new materials.” “But of course. It was burnt down.” “So how can it be the same building?” “It is always the same building.” I had to admit to myself that this was in fact a perfectly rational point of view, it merely started from an unexpected premise. The idea of the building, the intention of it, its design, are all immutable and are the essence of the building. The intention of the original builders is what survived. The wood of which the design is constructed decays and is replaced when necessary. To be overly concerned with the original materials, which are merely sentimental souvenirs of the past, is to fail to see the living building itself.” -- Douglas Adams
This reminds me of Knossos. The restoration of the ruins are often criticized, since there is no way of knowing if it was exactly like that. But the way you talked about it it seems much closer to restoration of relatively modern historical buildings, which is much more common than something like Knossos.
This is actually so cool, how havent I seen you guys before
On the front of the structures you restored, I think there might be a single step and fences along the rest. This would fit the watch tower, and could explain why there is only a single step. And judging by the rest of the structures, they probably had actual stair blocks on that step.
Loving this series! keep it up!
This has been the episode I've liked the most from both restoring ruins series
I'm storyboarding an idea for a wilderness survival game a la minecraft and these videos are giving me great insight on how to make archeo. generated structures since I'm more of a paleo guy (mammals are losers, dinosaurs for the win)
Man this project is very interesting
(Canonically(according to game theory)) the wooden towers were made by pillagers or adventurers later on. Which is why the blue carpet is above the gray, and the wooden planks are kinda creating paths.
game theory is *not* canonical, mate 😅
@@haymyellow1880 I made a joke bro
You would probably love Vintage Story. It's a minecraft esque game that is FULL of ruins of a past civilization, and multiple books and scrolls that can be found giving hints on the lives of your predecessors. I can't say much in order to avoid spoilers, but it sounds like the perfect game for you to do this kind of archeological restoration!
I still love The First City mod. I feel like thats a really cool idea of what some of the ancient civilizations could have been like
I can’t wait for the 4 part, it’s so cool!
that actually looks so fun. maybe sometime i’m gonna look for a smaller ancient city in a creative world and restore it
Just discovered that the 4th part is out. Can't wait to see it after it releases for the non-members.
Great Video! I would suggest, to better restore those repeated structures, to take screenshots of it's every face (front, top, back, right and left) and catalogue, because one might have an original block that's missing on others, I think it will ease the work. Keep doing it!
I know this is probably a bit late, but using the mod litematica can be a huge help when trying to make identical buildings with different levels of decay match up.(For a more complete building)
it allows you to overlay the buildings and paste in parts of other ones. it would be like doing 3D imaging on broken pottery(ect) to line up the peices and make a complete 3d reconstruction.
I remember in one of the tutorial worlds (I think the first one with elytra) I just went around and restored the giant pillars in each corner of the map
Awesomeness, lets go.
Im pretty sure the deepstone cobble is the crushed rements of the structure and wasnt part of the original structure in that state
"if only we could take a photo or something"
me when i press alt+printscreen & just paste it into a doc or gimp or whatever else you can paste images into
they should get yall on minecraft education edition kinda stuff, this is the kinda stuff modern minecraft is made for. using minecraft to teach real concepts to kids
This is how they messed up the great pyramid. At the top of the grand gallery was a worn down stone that they 'fixed', but i believe it was meant to look like that.
me: reads description
also me: if anyone takes minecraft too seriously may have a problem. minecraft is a fun time of building with blocks in a world free of the real world physics
Personally I like the idea that you had an army of undergrads from nearby colleges come out and excavate all the skulk :)
This is such a fun idea I love it!!
Thousands of ancient cities sounds right. My world has 3 of them fairly close together. As in I can see all 3 of them on a 3:4 map.
This is the Java seed
2,862,766,470
And this is the bedrock seed
-1,432,200,826
It's actually a pretty cool seed if anyone wants to load it up.
The north city is at about -647, -41, -690
Then there's one directly south and one directly east of it.
There's also mineshafts cutting into the South one.
Thank you for doing this. I keep starting maps wanting to do this and it just takes too long
The red glass does look like a damage map!! it would have been interesting to see the vines as a different colour glass to get the full effect
Episode 3?? How did I miss the first 2?! I need to go back and watch them!
You should do the bastion remnant after this
amazing videos keep it up man
The reason the floor is just regular Deepslate, gravel and the like, is because that floor is technically not part of the actual ancient city structure. You can find some patches of blocks and slaps here and there so I guess the actual floor of the city would be Deepslate bricks and brick slaps right on top of the regular deep slate layer
The music has hardcore Minecraft story mode vibes
What a cool concept for a video!
Excellent video, once again
I just watched the trail ruins one and got recommended this
i would suggest for when rebuilding to replace the Cobbled Deepslate with something cleaner like the tiles or brick, as the structures are very cleanly built unlike early civilizations that would use cobble or wood and dirt, the structures here feel more Roman-like or Greek-like with how they are built, like a sort of higher society that doesn't use messy blocks, so cobble might be rubble of what used to be there, like very destroyed bricks or tiles. idk just a thought
It never occurred to me that there could've been wood in the Ancient City a long time ago
Oh we are so here 🔥
YES PLEASE
Yknow i heard of this shrine in japan, its been there for a long long time. Burned down 3 times, but its still considered the same building. Restoration is kinda like that
Question: is it true that there's a convincing amount of evidence to suggest a lot of the marble preserved from the past in Italy was once painted? When you restore a site like this, do you usually just restore materials in kind, or does repainting it ever happen? Could this site have been more colorful in the past possibly?
I unpaused and you immediately started talking about paint lol! But I still have the other questions
Every greek statue that is stark white today was once painted. When analyzed, flecks or residue of paint can be found. Temples were also painted. Matter of fact, the "Elgin marbles" that were stolen from Greece and are now in the British museum used to have paint on them, but a wealthy donor paid the museum to "scrub that dirt off of them" or something like that.
@@daskalosBCE Yeah I've heard similar stories of Europeans assuming it was vandalized, which makes me sad to wonder what we lost from that assumption.
@@daskalosBCE What kinda stinks about the painted statues that I'm reminded of every time someone mentions them is that we're really only sure of what the base coat's colors are like, and that they could've had some pretty fancy and elaborate layers of coloring and paints or special handmade paint texturing or something, I really wish some day we find out some way to learn what they looked like completed.