rocksuch

Rocksuch is a fictional term used in some science fiction and tabletop role-playing settings to describe an interdisciplinary field focused on rocks as physical objects and cultural artifacts. In these narratives, rocksuch blends geology, archaeology, and ethnography to interpret how rocks record environmental change, human activity, and symbolic meaning. Practitioners are depicted as studying mineral composition, textures, and rock formations while also analyzing inscriptions, tool marks, and symbolic motifs carved or painted on stone.

Field methods commonly described include rock sampling, stratigraphic mapping, and remote sensing, supplemented by laboratory techniques such as petrography, geochemistry, and isotopic dating. Digital modeling, 3D reconstruction, and cataloging of rock artifacts are routine outputs.

Origin and usage: The term appears in speculative fiction and role-playing settings from the mid-21st century onward, used to explore how science and culture intersect in the study of stone.

Impact and reception: Rocksuch serves as a narrative device to discuss interdisciplinary science, resource ethics, and environmental memory, while critics note that its definitions are variable and its methods may lack real-world standardization.

See also: geology, archaeology, cultural heritage, planetary science.