Mini Camp

Archeological Challenge

Welcome all to the Mini Camp, a casual challenge meant to warm you up for Summer Camp! Mini Camp is a new concept, which consists of 3 prompts given over the span of 12 days, with one prompt every 4 days. All three prompts are related to the same subject, in this case: Archeology! And here's the twist: to be elligible for this challenge, all article must be shorter than 500 words. Why a 500 word max limit? The idea of these mini prompts is to warm ourselves up for Summer Camp, by focusing on whats important and avoiding an early burn out.

At the end of the challenge, I will be sharing a large selection of submissions I particularly enjoyed. There will be no "winners"- this is a low pressure event, the goal is to have fun and try out a new challenge format!

3 Prompts, 3 Phases, 1 Theme

The theme of this challenge is "Archeology". All three prompts will be releated to that one subject, but there are many ways to go about it! The main idea is to focus on the history of one's world, through the scope of an "archeological" discovery. This dicsovery need not be purposful: the Lascaux caves were discovered by playing children, and Champollion's horse tripped over the Rosetta Stone. In fact, your world doesn't need to have "archeologists" at all for this challenge!

The first prompt is given today, on the 18th of June. The second prompt will be released on the 22nd of June, and the third and final prompt will be released on the 26th of June. You have until the release of the following prompt to complete your article- but not to worry, if you go over feel free to still share your work. The final deadline to submit your work is the 30th of June.

Prompt 1: Geography / Building

Tell us about a historical place or excavation site, where remain the ruins of an old civilisation.

If we want to find old objects, first we must know where to look! It could be a meadow or clearing with ruins burried deep beneath, an ancient burrial site, the construction site of a new house where treasure was unearthed, cellars in old houses with forgotten rooms, catacombs, caves and grottos covered in paintings...

Here are a few extra questions to help stimulate the imagination: Where is this place located? How was it found? Who used to live here, and what did they leave behind? Who (if anyone) currently lives here?

Prompt 2: Item

Tell us about an object, artefact or other item found on the grounds of your historical site. What does it look like? Who did it belong to?

Congratulations, you found an old object! While the challenge expects the object to be found on the place you previously made up, feel free to make up whatever it is you fancy. The object can be an every day item, it could be treasure, or even the remains of some poor soul. Regardless of what it is, its old, and has some historical interest!

Here are a few extra questions to help stimulate the imagination: What does this object look like? What is it made of? Who did it belong to? Where was it found? How did it end up here?

Prompt 3: Tradition

Tell us about an old tradition or ritual associated to an ancient object or location.

Your historian / archeologist / random passberbye has found an ancient object / place, and as most people tend to do they will start to invent wild theories concerning it. Is it a calendar or a bread stamp? A mysterious tomb filled with treasure, or the "junk cave" of an artisan school? And whatever theory exist, how accurate is it?

Here are a few extra questions to get you started: What is the tradition like? What evidence do your character / people have to defend their idea? How wrong or accurate are they in their hypothesis?

I would like to make a shoutout to the amazing Annie Stein (aka Nnie), who not only did this banner but whose Summer Camp Chill Guidelines inspired the idea of this challenge! You can check them out on her Summer Camp Pledge!

by Dewang Gupta

Cup by Metropolitan Museum

Nakim against the Minotaur by unknown

Rules Overview:

In order to be read and shared, articles must be published and public.

Articles can be written in any language, though english or french are preferred!

You article must be between 300 words and 500 words (bbcode and whatnot not included).

To submit your article, simply copy paste either the link or bbcode of your article down in the comments!

Happy Worldbuilding!

Prompt 1 Articles: Geography / Building

Prompt 2 Articles: Item / Material

Prompt 3 Articles: Tradition