Artifact Trove

Artifact Trove is a type of geode-like artifact container that can be broken open to receive one of several museum artifacts. Each possible result has an equal 3.6% chance of appearing. It is one of the ways to obtain artifacts, alongside digging artifact spots, tilling certain areas in the Mines or Skull Cavern, monster drops, secret notes, geodes, fishing treasure chests, and Bone Nodes.

Because the drop pool is broad, an Artifact Trove can produce many museum items at once. The possible contents include common finds such as Chipped Amphora, Arrowhead, Ancient Doll, Elvish Jewelry, Chewing Stick, Ornamental Fan, Rare Disc, Ancient Sword, Rusty Spoon, Rusty Spur, Rusty Cog, Chicken Statue, Ancient Seed, Prehistoric Tool, Dried Starfish, Anchor, Glass Shards, Bone Flute, Prehistoric Handaxe, Dwarvish Helm, Dwarf Gadget, Ancient Drum, Golden Mask, Golden Relic, and both Strange Doll variants, among others. This makes the item useful when working on the museum collection, especially for artifacts that are otherwise seasonal or location-specific.

Artifact Troves are not used in any bundles and are not used in any quests. Their main practical value is therefore collection progress, selling, and a few artifact-specific recipes or rewards. In particular:

• Reading Treasure Appraisal Guide triples the base sale price of artifacts.
• All artifacts can be donated to the museum, gifted to Penny and the Dwarf as liked gifts, and used in tailoring at a Sewing Machine.
• Some artifacts have special uses, such as Ancient Seed being turned into plantable Ancient Seeds after donation, or Dwarf Gadget being required for the Farm Computer.
• Bone Flute and all fossil, prehistoric, and skeletal artifacts can be processed in the Bone Mill to make Fertilizer.

For museum completion, Artifact Troves are especially valuable because they can yield several fossils and prehistoric artifacts that are otherwise tied to specific regions or enemies. If you are targeting a specific artifact, however, Troves are not a reliable focused farm since the outcome is randomized and evenly split across the full item pool.

Artifact Troves are also notable in relation to Ginger Island artifact spot drops, where Bone Fragments, fossils, and other rewards can appear in specific island areas; those sources are separate from the trove itself, but they make artifact farming on the island and trove opening part of the same broader collection strategy.