Archaeo-Engineer

An Archaeo-Engineer is a specialist profession involved in the study and reverse-engineering of ancient technology. As the galaxy is old and full of the remnants of technologically-advanced, long-gone empires, many contemporary colonies are built atop the buried ruins of precursors. Many of these precursor empires had access to advanced or exotic technology which is still poorly understood today. As their name suggests, archaeo-engineers are part archaeologist, part engineer. While an archaeologist is more concerned with the preservation of historical artifacts, archaeo-engineers are focused on reverse-engineering the technologies involved for use in the modern day.

Of all the worlds in the galaxy, relic worlds are considered the holy grail for archaeo-engineers. These former city-worlds have turned into rusted husks through millennia of abandonment and decay, but vast troves of valuable data remain intact. On planets like Olympia, former capital of the ancient First League, hundreds of thousands of archaeo-engineers scour the planet-city for any remnants of advanced technology, study it, and utilise any insights gleaned to develop (or redevelop) technological advances.

The practice of reverse-engineer ancient artifacts is a controversial one. Traditional archaeologists often decry the practice, as the reverse-engineering process usually irreversably damages the artifacts. As such, some states attempt to balance historical preservation with the uncovering of new technology. The United Nations of Earth's Department of Archaeostudies is the galaxy's leader in archaeo-engineering, but also carefully balances the needs of technological discovery with historical preservation. In more than one instance, choosing to preserve artifacts has led to further discoveries that would not have happened had the artifacts been destroyed.