Archaeology is a fairly common theme in Science Fiction. A few examples are: Dan Simmons Hyperion Bantam Spectra 1989 Dan Simmons Fall of Hyperion Bantam Spectra 1990 Alis A. Rasmussen The Labyrinth Gate Baen Fantasy 1988 Connie Willis Doomsday Book Bantam Spectra 1992 Holly Lisle Bones of the Past Baen Fantasy1993 Anne McCaffrey All the Weyrs of Pern Del Rey 1991 Anne McCaffrey The White Dragon Del Rey 1978 Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey The Ship Who Searched Baen Books 1992 Dan Simmons' award winning Hyperion saga includes a father searching for a cure for his daughter, an archaeologist, who was digging in the wrong place at the wrong time and "caught" something on the dig. Sort of a pyramid power meets SF. Rasmussen's fantasy transports a modern couple back to a 19th century reality where they go on an excavation of an ancient religious/mystic power site. Lisle's fantasy is set in a medieval type society where magic works. Magician/professor types go in search of the lost city of the mysterious first beings who were there before humans. Anne McCaffrey's later books in the Dragon Riders of Pern series includes the discovery of the first landing site and origins of the planetary colony. Dragons digging. Poor/nonexistent methodology archaeo-wise. McCaffrey & Lackey's Ship Who Searched deals with a young girl along on her parent's excavation on an airless world who (again) catches a dread disease as the result of excavation. As a plus it contains a description of some archaeological methods (unlike most others) even if it is a bit questionable. Mary Ellin D'Agostino [log in to unmask]