So I was thinking about what kind of bonuses an Ethiopian civ could have, which got me thinking about how early hominid fossils in East Africa could be represented in Civ, which got me thinking about Olduvai Gorge as a Natural Wonder with unusual mechanics, which got me thinking about how other Natural Wonders could use the same mechanics.
What sets these three Natural Wonders apart is that they would initially be invisible, appearing as a generic tile with no features until a certain tech or civic is researched. Additionally, they would each only be one tile, and would act as a special Antiquity Site which can be excavated up to three times to provide unique Artifacts.
These Natural Wonders are mechanically different enough from normal ones that you could argue they should be given their own name, like "Archaeological Wonders" or "Great Antiquity Sites" or something, but I'd rather keep things simple and within existing game mechanics where possible.
Districts, cities, and world wonders may be built on top of the natural wonder if the civic/tech necessary to view the natural wonder in question has not been researched by any civilization. Doing so causes the natural wonder to relocate to the nearest tile of the type it is disguised as that also fulfills its spawning condition. (e.g. Gobekli Tepe would relocate to the nearest plains hill adjacent to a mountain.) If no tile in the world fulfills this requirement, it simply relocates to the nearest land tile that doesn't have a city, district, or world wonder. (This mechanic is necessary to prevent a player unwittingly overwriting the natural wonder, while also preventing players from discovering its location early in the game due to owning a tile they inexplicably can't place a district on.) Once any player has researched the tech or civic necessary to see the natural wonder, however, players become unable to place districts, cities, or world wonders on it, even if they themselves cannot see it.
Olduvai Gorge:
Disguised as a plains hill tile with no tile features, and always spawns within five tiles of the equator. Revealed by the Natural History civic. Has a tile yield of +20 culture and +15 science, and can be excavated to gain the following three artifacts:
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Paranthropus Skull, created by the Australopithecine civilization in the Pleistocene Era
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Homo Habilis Skull, created by the Homo Habilis civilization in the Pleistocene Era
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Homo Erectus Skull, created by the Homo Erectus civilization
Hi, for my university evolutionary anthropology class I need to write an essay about the significance of an Olduvai Gorge Hominid and I picked Homo Habilius and wanted to discuss the influence of Homo Erectus use of tools and possible building of stone shelter and the possible existence of division of labour. However I have no clue where to start looking for scholarly articles on this matter, especially on possible building of stone shelters and the possible existence of division of labour(I found quite a bit to discuss for use of stone tools already). Any help? It's due next Monday.
Please pardon my naivete. I have a dream of visiting Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and maybe one day living and working there doing fossil hunting (hominid or otherwise). Maybe it's just a dream. For those who have visited there:
- Is it possible to live near the Gorge?
- Are there active digs?
- How could a non-anthropologist by training be of assistance (research, sifting, or otherwise)?
- Is there a better place to study/look for hominid fossils, like Ethiopia?
