In a grand age of exploration, there are those willing to risk life and limb to bring the treasures of ancient cultures back home for others to see and study. They use scholarly research and high explosives to unearth the wealth of the past, pack it into boxes, and ship it by train and steamboat for display in museums newly built by their wealthy patrons. Some of these adventurers are studious scholars willing to carefully excavate and document their finds, while others are more accustomed to simply breaking their way into the tombs of old. All of them brave curses and ancient, powerful guardians for fame, fortune, and the glory of their patrons. These individuals are the adventuring archaeologists, diving forward where only fools and celestials would tread.

In this world, the cities have grown as industrial production has increased, and nations have begun to take a pride in having the biggest, wealthiest, most cultured and well-versed cities. A cultural arms race has begun and upper middle-class men and women with good educations and a taste for adventure have taken up the call to arms in this competition. Libraries, museums, and parks are the battlegrounds. They are planned and built with the wealth generated from the booming industries and bragged about in the courts. The newly-formed museums start with the collections that the wealthiest patrons have been showing in their homes for years, but those collections cannot entertain the masses for long. Gathering new artifacts to show the public and allow the upper classes to continue feeling culturally superior to their neighbors is the role of the archeologist.

This prestige class is stat'ed for the Pathfinder RPG but can easily be used in conjunction with any OGL/d20 system games.