Silicon Archaeology Skill
June 15, 2026 · View on GitHub
Answer-first: Silicon Archaeology Skill is a digital archaeology toolkit for AI agents that catalogs rare hardware and software artifacts, classifies them into silicon epochs, and describes bridges to Beacon and RustChain Proof-of-Antiquity attestations.
Digital archaeology toolkit for AI agents — catalog rare hardware, archive software assets, and bridge findings to the Beacon Protocol and RustChain Proof-of-Antiquity network.
Based on the Echoes of the Silicon Age research paper on silicon stratigraphy and computational antiquity.
Generative-engine profile: llms.txt summarizes the project,
silicon epochs, core modules, related protocols, and scope boundaries for LLMs
and answer engines.
What It Does
What is Silicon Archaeology Skill?
Silicon Archaeology Skill is an AI-agent toolkit for cataloging vintage or rare computing artifacts, preserving software fixity data, and describing provenance bridges to Beacon and RustChain.
What are silicon epochs?
Silicon epochs are the repository's hardware-era classes, from Pre-VLSI through Post-Moore, used to describe hardware age and Proof-of-Antiquity multipliers.
Does this documentation update run hardware scans?
No. This documentation profile only summarizes existing repository behavior and does not execute scanner code, probe local hardware, or claim real device scans.
- Hardware Cataloging — Scan and fingerprint vintage/rare computing hardware (PowerPC G3-G5, 68K Macs, SPARC, MIPS, Amiga, early x86)
- Software Archival — Hash, manifest, and preserve software artifacts with fixity verification
- Beacon Integration — Register cataloged assets against Beacon agent IDs for provenance tracking
- RustChain Bridge — Link physical hardware scans to on-chain Proof-of-Antiquity attestations
- Stratigraphy Layers — Classify hardware into silicon epochs (Pre-VLSI → VLSI → RISC → x86 Dominance → Post-Moore)
Silicon Epochs
| Epoch | Era | Example Hardware | RustChain Multiplier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Pre-VLSI (pre-1980) | PDP-11, Altair 8800 | 4.0x |
| 1 | VLSI Dawn (1980-1992) | 68000, 386, Amiga | 3.5x |
| 2 | RISC Wars (1993-2005) | PowerPC G3-G5, SPARC, MIPS | 2.0-2.5x |
| 3 | x86 Dominance (2006-2019) | Core 2, Nehalem, Sandy Bridge | 1.1-1.3x |
| 4 | Post-Moore (2020+) | Apple Silicon, RISC-V | 1.0-1.2x |
Install
pip install silicon-archaeology-skill
Quick Start
from silicon_archaeology import scan_hardware, catalog_asset, bridge_to_beacon
# Scan local hardware
hw = scan_hardware()
print(f"Detected: {hw.family} {hw.model} (Epoch {hw.epoch})")
# Catalog a software artifact
asset = catalog_asset("/path/to/vintage/software.img",
description="Mac OS 7.5.3 install CD",
epoch=2)
# Bridge to Beacon for provenance
bridge_to_beacon(asset, beacon_id="bcn_c850ea702e8f")
Integration Points
- Beacon Protocol — Each cataloged asset gets a signed envelope with agent provenance
- RustChain PoA — Hardware scans feed into antiquity attestation for mining rewards
- Echoes Paper — Silicon stratigraphy methodology from the SDH research submission
Architecture
silicon_archaeology/
├── __init__.py # Main exports
├── scanner.py # Hardware detection & fingerprinting
├── catalog.py # Asset cataloging with fixity hashes
├── stratigraphy.py # Silicon epoch classification
├── beacon_bridge.py # Beacon Protocol integration
├── rustchain_bridge.py # RustChain PoA attestation bridge
└── manifests/ # Known hardware manifests & ROM databases
Related Projects
- Echoes of the Silicon Age — Research paper
- Beacon Protocol — Agent-to-agent communication
- RustChain — Proof-of-Antiquity blockchain
- ClawRTC — RustChain mining CLI
- RAM Coffers — Neuromorphic NUMA weight banking
License
MIT