Archaeology, Reforging, New Water Engine
Archaeology is the new secondary profession that will be joining the ranks of cooking, fishing, and first aid in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Archaeology allows the player to unlock new abilities and rewards by discovering ancient treasures throughout the world. Each archaeologist uses the profession to uncover clues hidden in the world around them, such as troll relics or map fragments, and decipher their meaning, enabling the clever archaeologist to manipulate pieces of the past, learning the location of a treasure cache or valuable artifact. Such artifacts are highly sought after by the Archaeology Society, and they pay in and items for their return. Those who have mastered archaeology can find Titan artifacts, earning special currency used to unlock character paths and allowing the player to further customize their character.
Archaeology provides the Ancient Glyphs used by the Path of the Titans and looks like a mix of tradeskills, gathering professions, and quests. Any character will be able to train it and people with an existing gathering profession will have the possibility to track both things at the same time.
The artifacts you find are placed in your Archaeology journal, allowing you to study it to unlock rewards. According to the screenshot of the interface you will have to complete mini-quest to eventually get a reward. (In this case, the Black Market value of the axe is 30G)
The most interesting aspect of the profession remains the Ancient Glyphs and it seems that all characters will have to train it if they want to access all the new skills.