Great idea for a vibe coded project that is actually creative/original. Got in the top 4% as a professional historian. Would be interesting to see the professions of the people in the top .1 percent - is it people with Geoguessr type abilities or more like art historians and curators at the Met, I wonder?
I've been playing this nearly every day and sharing the results in my family's group chat. I've been to a lot of museums and I didn't realize how much information I wasn't retaining. No quiz once you exit I guess. Anthropeum really starts to train your brain to remember patterns, times, and locations. I often get stumped by whether something is Peruvian, African, or Native Islander. Always more to learn!
This just became my new favorite daily game. The only thing I’d change is the time resolution: 1750-2000 should probably have the same number of divisions as 1000-3000 BC.
The scoring is the same as a project from a year or two ago that used AI generated videos, I wonder if this a rework of that? I think this is a definite improvement, if so.
I think the "top nn%" is misleading if you do terribly, though. "Top 67%" sounds better than average, but a look at the graph shows that my inability to distinguish between locations of tribal art puts me well below average.
This is great. I suck, considering how much I like anthropology and history ... Would be nice to have access to other museum collections, considering the Met has a bias in collecting from such and such nation (at least i'm pretty sure, maybe less than the british museum ?). Anyway, I had a blast :).
I wonder how many people are using external resources when playing this. I have a hard time believing that the average lumps so far to the right of the score distribution unless this game is played exclusively by anthropologists haha.
I studied History of Art in school - long ago admittedly, but it was clearly helpful in identifying differences between eastern and western portraiture. It was, however, far less useful at helping me identify artifacts from Central Africa and Mesoamerica.
I used no external resources since that would defeat the purpose of this.
Given that, I placed in the 64th percentile based on a couple of really accurate matches (renaissance sculpture, fnar) and a lot that weren't terribly wrong.
I scored above the median just getting the continent and millennium right. Admittedly I used knowledge about population density to pick the most likely spot, but that hardly makes me an anthropologist. I assume regular players will also pick up on patterns in where most artifacts are sourced from.
It reveals a link to a page with more information, after you guess, and embeds an excerpt from that page, although they're a bit vague and general. Usually with a bit of scrolling I can find the part where it says what the thing actually is.
I collect artifacts/coins as a hobby, and I often come across things that are undocumented/unattributed. Saw the Met had an open access program and wanted to recreate that feeling with more artifacts:)
It's pretty nondescript but that specific piece was from a pretty famous Avar horde uncovered in Albania. There's a sizeable collection at the Met with things that look similar. Keep an eye out for the rivets and rectangular gold sheets like that, they're belthook designs for nomadic riders!
The timeline is not readable on narrow desktop windows (e.g. when you have two windows tiled side-by-side, but not so narrow as to switch to the mobile layout). The labels for the years overlap each other so it's very hard to read.
I love this! One of the wrong answers was because I mis-clicked the location. Another one had an inscription saying "1695" and I confidently picked that time bracket (was very wrong!).
How could anyone figure out the provenance of that rectangular gold object with the four semispheres?
Gold has been widespread and doesn't narrow it down much. I wondered if its abstract-ish design might be modern, but then it didn't seem worthwhile to the Met and I decided it might just be practical (I was somewhat right about practicality). I guessed that the fastners on the back were were post-Middle Ages.
Wonderful - thank you to the creator! Requests, just in case you are reading:
* Make hints that prompt thinking and teach analysis (interesting!), not give answers (boring). For example, for the Inca ceramic depicting corn: 'The object depicts something familiar to you - where and when would that have been familiar to the people who made and used this?'; or for a silk painting, 'Where and when do you find these materials?'.
* Minor issue - The distance measurement is a bit unfair. Even if you figure out one is from (e.g.) China, getting the exact spot wrong is more costly than choosing the wrong spot in (e.g.) Italy because China is so much larger. I even placed the 'Ferry' fan on the Yangtze river, but it's a long river. Also, the map projection distorts distance.
Great idea for a vibe coded project that is actually creative/original. Got in the top 4% as a professional historian. Would be interesting to see the professions of the people in the top .1 percent - is it people with Geoguessr type abilities or more like art historians and curators at the Met, I wonder?
I got in the top 15%, mostly due to the oldrr european/middle eastern artifacts
Just a software developer with an above average interest in that time period.
I hit one item within 16km, although about 1500 years out :)
I've been playing this nearly every day and sharing the results in my family's group chat. I've been to a lot of museums and I didn't realize how much information I wasn't retaining. No quiz once you exit I guess. Anthropeum really starts to train your brain to remember patterns, times, and locations. I often get stumped by whether something is Peruvian, African, or Native Islander. Always more to learn!
Love it!
But 10 is a bit of a time commitment. I feel like 5 would be ideal for a daily diversion.
This just became my new favorite daily game. The only thing I’d change is the time resolution: 1750-2000 should probably have the same number of divisions as 1000-3000 BC.
Nice! That was fun.
The scoring is the same as a project from a year or two ago that used AI generated videos, I wonder if this a rework of that? I think this is a definite improvement, if so.
I think the "top nn%" is misleading if you do terribly, though. "Top 67%" sounds better than average, but a look at the graph shows that my inability to distinguish between locations of tribal art puts me well below average.
This is great. I suck, considering how much I like anthropology and history ... Would be nice to have access to other museum collections, considering the Met has a bias in collecting from such and such nation (at least i'm pretty sure, maybe less than the british museum ?). Anyway, I had a blast :).
I wonder how many people are using external resources when playing this. I have a hard time believing that the average lumps so far to the right of the score distribution unless this game is played exclusively by anthropologists haha.
I guess there bias towards people who reckon they can give it a decent shot, Vs others bouncing off thinking 'ha no chance! '
I studied History of Art in school - long ago admittedly, but it was clearly helpful in identifying differences between eastern and western portraiture. It was, however, far less useful at helping me identify artifacts from Central Africa and Mesoamerica.
I used no external resources since that would defeat the purpose of this.
Given that, I placed in the 64th percentile based on a couple of really accurate matches (renaissance sculpture, fnar) and a lot that weren't terribly wrong.
I scored above the median just getting the continent and millennium right. Admittedly I used knowledge about population density to pick the most likely spot, but that hardly makes me an anthropologist. I assume regular players will also pick up on patterns in where most artifacts are sourced from.
Looks like I should feel decent about my 72 083! Got a perfect 10k on two questions which surprised me.
Fun game, but 10 objects felt a little much for a daily challenge I think.
It’s funny how much of a “ChatGPT tell” that thin weight accent header is. Sol seems to place that on _everything_.
Very cool ! Would be nice to have some explanation after answers on the objects so that I learn something, but pretty addictive and nice UI!
It reveals a link to a page with more information, after you guess, and embeds an excerpt from that page, although they're a bit vague and general. Usually with a bit of scrolling I can find the part where it says what the thing actually is.
> pretty addictive
Is that good now? :(
This is 10min of attention of mine that didnt went into doom scrolling bulls*t on social medias, I guess it s positive :)
I made this game! woohoo
It's very cool. Thank you!
Was there something in particular that inspired you to make it?
I collect artifacts/coins as a hobby, and I often come across things that are undocumented/unattributed. Saw the Met had an open access program and wanted to recreate that feeling with more artifacts:)
Thank you!
Now then, how was the player supposed to figure out that rectangular gold thing with the four semispheres? Were there clues I missed?
I love the 'top 80%!' bit, by the way!
It's pretty nondescript but that specific piece was from a pretty famous Avar horde uncovered in Albania. There's a sizeable collection at the Met with things that look similar. Keep an eye out for the rivets and rectangular gold sheets like that, they're belthook designs for nomadic riders!
The timeline is not readable on narrow desktop windows (e.g. when you have two windows tiled side-by-side, but not so narrow as to switch to the mobile layout). The labels for the years overlap each other so it's very hard to read.
Fun game, though!
Someone turned me on to this recently, but mainly it ended up getting me back into Timeguessr. (I'm much better at Timeguessr.)
Fun game. It does seem that the date score is much more forgiving than the location.
I love this! One of the wrong answers was because I mis-clicked the location. Another one had an inscription saying "1695" and I confidently picked that time bracket (was very wrong!).
Anthropeum.com · Jul 28 2026
YYGYRRYGGY
50,130 · top 90% of players today!
In this context, "top 90%" means "bottom 10%". I did truly awful and got "top 99%", which sounded impressive until I realized what happened.
Well.. awful compared to all others who definitely did not cheat right?
I didn't cheat and I'm in bottom 94%!
Really fun! Feels great when your hunch pays off, but most of the time it didn’t. I’ll be certainly playing it more often! Joining the share here:
Anthropeum.com · Jul 28 2026
YYBGYYRGGB
61,616 · top 66% of players today!
That was a lot of fun. Top 74%, woohoo!
I should really get in the habit of playing this game and geoguesser.
Heh, geoguesser for artifacts. Neat. The texts on the slider do seem a little close together. Could just be me.
Wonderful game! mmooss & mortenjorck have good suggestions.
it's great, even though i'm bad at it. "45,485 · top 95% of players today!" is such nice way of saying that:
This is awesome! Much more interesting visuals than Geoguessr
(potential spoilers:)
How could anyone figure out the provenance of that rectangular gold object with the four semispheres?
Gold has been widespread and doesn't narrow it down much. I wondered if its abstract-ish design might be modern, but then it didn't seem worthwhile to the Met and I decided it might just be practical (I was somewhat right about practicality). I guessed that the fastners on the back were were post-Middle Ages.
A yes, a gold lego piece. Wait, not Denmark?
That's really cool, I did really badly
Wonderful - thank you to the creator! Requests, just in case you are reading:
* Make hints that prompt thinking and teach analysis (interesting!), not give answers (boring). For example, for the Inca ceramic depicting corn: 'The object depicts something familiar to you - where and when would that have been familiar to the people who made and used this?'; or for a silk painting, 'Where and when do you find these materials?'.
* Minor issue - The distance measurement is a bit unfair. Even if you figure out one is from (e.g.) China, getting the exact spot wrong is more costly than choosing the wrong spot in (e.g.) Italy because China is so much larger. I even placed the 'Ferry' fan on the Yangtze river, but it's a long river. Also, the map projection distorts distance.
Honestly surprised by this outcome. My geo estimates were way better than my period estimates.
Anthropeum.com · Jul 28 2026
64,056 · top 55% of players today!
What a beautiful game, props to the author.
Awesome, got ~25k, said top player! Im good at the geographical location but not so great in the time line, it was fun!
this is fun