Puzzle 013 is Ancient Arti-facts (Ancient Arte-facts in the UK version), the first of Mr. Collins's lesson puzzles in the Classroom. It's a 35-picarat Select puzzle that opens Chapter 2, when the story jumps back to the Professor's school days. Mr. Collins shows the class an incomplete journal entry from an excavation: four explorers, A to D, each dug up one artifact at a different depth. Using five short statements, you fill in each explorer's item, what it's made of and how deep it was found. Three of the twelve facts are already on the chart. The hints below open one at a time, and the answer stays hidden until you choose to show it.
This page covers story Puzzle 013 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS, using the North American text, with pictures rebuilt from the game's art. The UK English version has the same chart and the same answer, but it spells the title Ancient Arte-facts and words the puzzle a little differently. If you're after Daily Puzzle 013 or Puzzle 13 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 013? below.
What Puzzle 013 is
| Name (North America) | Ancient Arti-facts |
|---|---|
| Name (UK English) | Ancient Arte-facts |
| Type | Select |
| Picarats | 35 |
| Location | Classroom, Kingsbrook Academy |
| Chapter | Chapter 2 |
| When | The flashback to the Professor's youth |
| Given by | Mr. Collins, the teacher |
| Solved by | Young Hershel Layton |
| Is it mandatory? | Yes: the next part of the lesson only starts once it's solved |
| Hints | Three hints and a Super Hint |
| Previous / next puzzle | 012 Sharing the Burden (Dromedary Lobby) / 014 Bite of Bygone Days (also in the Classroom) |
The chart has a column for each explorer, A, B, C and D, with a small portrait at the top. Below that are three rows: the item each explorer found, the material it's made of, and the depth it was found at. B's item, D's material and A's depth are printed on the chart already, so you fill in the other nine boxes. When every box looks right, you touch Submit and the game checks all nine at once.
Ancient Arti-facts, Ancient Arte-facts and the Japanese name
The North American title is Ancient Arti-facts, a pun on "facts". The UK title is Ancient Arte-facts (sometimes written Arte-Facts), with the British spelling of "artefact". The UK puzzle text is also worded differently in places, not just spelled differently. Most notably, the second statement gives you a different explorer's depth than the North American one does. Both versions lead to the same finished chart, so the answer is the same in the US and UK English versions.
| Version | Puzzle name |
|---|---|
| English (North America) | Ancient Arti-facts |
| English (UK) | Ancient Arte-facts |
| Japanese | 古代史の授業 (Kodaishi no Jugyō, "ancient history lesson") |
Wrong Puzzle 013?
- Daily Puzzle 013 in Miracle Mask is a separate puzzle from the daily set: Ghosts 02 in North America (Ghouls 02 in the UK), from the Ghouls and Guards set. It has nothing to do with explorers or artifacts.
- Puzzles 014 and 015 are the rest of the same lesson, in the same Classroom. If your puzzle is about bite marks or a broken fossil, see Puzzle 014: Bite of Bygone Days or Puzzle 015: Fix the Fossil.
- Puzzle 13 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If you don't see a chart for four explorers with items, materials and depths, you're in the wrong game.
Where you get it
Puzzle 013 is the first puzzle of Chapter 2. As the chapter opens, the Professor remembers how he first heard of the Mask of Chaos, "about 18 years ago", and the game jumps back to his school days. Young Hershel is in the Classroom at Kingsbrook Academy with his friend Randall Ascot when Mr. Collins calls the class to order. Your goal reads "Listen to Mr. Collins!"
Mr. Collins is reading from Donald Rutledge's book Ancient Histories, about the Azran civilization. "Here on page 13," he says, "we see an incomplete journal entry from one excavation. Layton, what do you make of this?" That's the puzzle. You don't need to do anything special to reach it: it has no requirement of its own, and it comes up as soon as you're in the lesson, after the end of Chapter 1.
If you back out, Mr. Collins isn't impressed: "Daydreaming isn't like you, Layton. Shall I separate you and Ascot?" The puzzle stays with him in the Classroom until it's solved, so talking to him again should bring it back. Once you solve it, the lesson carries straight on with 014 Bite of Bygone Days and then 015 Fix the Fossil, both in the same room.
The Classroom has three hint coins, all in the normal view (the room has no zoomed-in view). They're at a lamp, a certificate and the notice board, so tap around those. Three coins don't cover all four hints for this puzzle on their own, but every hint on this page is free. The Classroom also hides 016 Wandering Watches, a hidden puzzle.
How the chart works
Each of the nine empty boxes is a switch. Tap a box and it shows the next tile in its row's set; tap again for the next one. After the third tile, one more tap takes the box back to blank. Each row has its own three tiles, so you can't put a material in the item row by mistake:
- Item row (top): coin, then sword, then pot, then blank again. The doll is already printed in B's column.
- Material row (middle): sandy clay, then wood, then blue-tinged metal, then blank. Stone is already printed in D's column.
- Depth row (bottom): three depth tiles, from shallowest to deepest, then blank. A's depth, 200 cm, is already printed.
Nothing stops you from using the same tile in two columns, so the game won't warn you about a duplicate. It only checks when you touch Submit, and every one of the nine boxes has to be right. Restart clears all nine boxes back to blank.
Hints, one at a time
These follow the game's own hints, in the same order, with a little more explanation. Open only the next one you need. In the game, Hints 1 to 3 cost one hint coin each and the Super Hint costs two.
Hint 1: start with what's printed
The top row is the item, the middle row is the material and the bottom row is the depth. Three facts are already there: B found a doll, D found something made of stone, and A found something at 200 cm.
Now read the first statement: the doll is made of wood. You know who found the doll, so you can fill in B's material straight away.
Hint 2: the depths
The second statement links B's depth and D's depth: B dug 100 cm deeper than D. In the North American text, the same statement also tells you D's depth. In the UK text, it tells you B's instead. Either way, you can now fill in both, and C gets the one depth tile that's left.
Then look at the third statement. It compares the metal find with the wooden one. You already know B's and D's materials, so use the depths to decide between A and C.
Hint 3: materials, then the pot
After the first two hints, every material and every depth should be filled in. What's left is the item row.
The fourth statement says the pot is made of sandy clay. You know whose find is clay, so that's the pot. For A and D, look at the fifth statement and compare the depths where the coin and the sword were found.
Super Hint: coin or sword?
The fifth statement says the coin was found in a shallower place than the sword.
A dug much deeper than D did. So which of the two found the coin, and which found the sword?
Answer and full solution
The answer below covers every box, with pictures of the finished chart. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
A found a metal sword at 200 cm, B a wooden doll at 150 cm, C a clay pot at 100 cm and D a stone coin at 50 cm. Fill in the nine empty boxes like that and touch Submit. The game's own answer text calls A's find a metal blade; it's the sword tile.
| Explorer | Item | Material | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Sword (tap twice) | Metal (tap three times) | 200 cm (printed) |
| B | Doll (printed) | Wood (tap twice) | 150 cm (tap three times) |
| C | Pot (tap three times) | Clay (tap once) | 100 cm (tap twice) |
| D | Coin (tap once) | Stone (printed) | 50 cm (tap once) |
The tap counts start from a blank box. If you overshoot, keep tapping: the box comes back round to blank and starts again.
Step by step:
- B's material is wood. Statement 1 says the doll is wooden, and B's doll is printed on the chart.
- B is at 150 cm and D at 50 cm. Statement 2 says B dug 100 cm deeper than D. The North American text adds that D's stone find was 50 cm down, so B is at 150 cm. The UK text says instead that B found something at 150 cm, so D is at 50 cm. Both give the same two depths.
- C is at 100 cm. That's the only depth left, since A's 200 cm is printed.
- A's find is metal, and C's is clay. Statement 3 says the metal was deeper than the wooden one at 150 cm. Of the two unknown materials, only A (200 cm) is deeper than that, so A has the metal and C gets the sandy clay.
- C found the pot. Statement 4 says the pot is made of sandy clay.
- D found the coin and A the sword. Statement 5 says the coin was shallower than the sword. D, at 50 cm, is much shallower than A, at 200 cm.
- Touch Submit. The game confirms: "A found a metal blade at 200 cm deep. B found a wooden doll at 150 cm deep. C found a clay pot at 100 cm deep. D found a stone coin at 50 cm deep. Quite a successful expedition!"
If your answer keeps failing:
- One box is still blank or one tap too far. All nine boxes are checked, so a single blank or wrong tile fails the whole chart. Count the taps in the table above.
- You swapped B's and D's depths. B is the deeper one: 150 cm for B, 50 cm for D.
- You gave the metal to C. The metal has to be deeper than the wood at 150 cm, and C is only at 100 cm.
- You swapped the coin and the sword. The coin is the shallower find, so it's D's.
Get it wrong and the game says "Too bad. Read over the statements carefully, and make sure everything fits." When you try again, Mr. Collins adds: "Now have another look, and do try to get it right this time. We are all waiting."
Picarats, hints and hint coins
Ancient Arti-facts is worth 35 picarats if you get it right the first time; wrong answers can drop it to 30 and then 25. Hints cost hint coins, not picarats: each of the first three hints costs one coin and the Super Hint costs two, so opening all four costs five coins.
The Classroom's three coins aren't enough for all four hints if you arrive with none, so it's worth reading the chart carefully before you submit. If you're short of coins, the hints on this page are free.
Versions and systems
- Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS and New 3DS: the puzzle and its solution are the same on every 3DS model. You fill in the chart by tapping the touch screen.
- US and UK English versions: same chart, same printed facts, same answer. The UK title is spelled Ancient Arte-facts, and some of the puzzle and hint text is worded differently, including the second statement.
- Japanese Miracle Mask Plus: this puzzle appears to be unchanged.
- Other systems: Miracle Mask is a 3DS game. As of October 2026 there's no Switch, mobile or PC version of it.
Mr. Collins's lesson (story spoiler)
Spoiler warning: this section covers the scenes around the puzzle. Chapter 2 is the Professor's memory of his school days. Before class, Randall tells Hershel he's on to "something big" and asks him to meet that night; then Mr. Collins tells the class to "exercise your backsides and be seated." When Hershel solves the chart, Mr. Collins grudgingly admits it: "Hmph. I didn't actually think that was possible. Good work, Layton. Now sit." Randall jumps in to take the next puzzle, and later, after pestering Mr. Collins about the Mask of Chaos, he's handed one more. When the lesson ends, Randall invites Hershel to his house that evening to explain everything.
FAQ
Where is the answer to Puzzle 013?
It's in the Answer and full solution section above, hidden until you open it. If you only want a push, open the hints one at a time first.
What is Puzzle 013 called?
Ancient Arti-facts in North America and Ancient Arte-facts in the UK. In Japanese it's 古代史の授業.
Where is Mr. Collins's classroom?
It's the Classroom at Kingsbrook Academy, at the very start of Chapter 2. You're already in the lesson when the chapter begins; Mr. Collins gives you the puzzle.
Do I need to solve Puzzle 012 first?
Not as a requirement of this puzzle: Puzzle 013 has no prerequisite of its own. It comes up when Chapter 2 starts, so you reach it by finishing Chapter 1. Puzzle 012, Sharing the Burden, is a Chapter 1 puzzle in the Dromedary Lobby.
Why does the UK version's statement 2 look different?
The UK text gives you a different explorer's depth in the second statement than the North American text does. The facts you work out from it are the same, and so is the finished chart. Hint 2 covers both wordings.
Can you skip Puzzle 013?
It doesn't look like it. It's mandatory, and the lesson only moves on to Puzzle 014 after it's solved. If you back out, it stays with Mr. Collins, so you can try again.
How many picarats is Puzzle 013 worth?
35 picarats. Wrong answers can lower that to 30 and then 25.
Is Daily Puzzle 013 the same as Puzzle 013?
No. Daily Puzzle 013 is Ghosts 02 (Ghouls 02 in the UK), from the Ghouls and Guards set. Story Puzzle 013 is Mr. Collins's explorers' chart.
More Miracle Mask puzzles
- Puzzle 012: Sharing the Burden
- Puzzle 014: Bite of Bygone Days
- Puzzle 015: Fix the Fossil
- Puzzle 001: Stumble's Balloons
- Puzzle 005: Robot Factory
- Puzzle 60: Dangerous Holes
- Puzzle 100: Gate to the Ruins!
- Puzzle 113: Chip Champions
- Puzzle 118: Evenly Matched 3
- Puzzle 122: Kitty Solitaire 3
For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.