Hello OA!

[Drashner1]

Memetics in OA is basically propaganda, advertising, and brainwashing refined to a science, fed steroids, and cranked to 11 all at the same time.
...
DNI isn't necessary for infection/subversion via memetics - it's just one of many possible channels.

I'm not entirely unfamiliar with concepts and even methods of psychological warfare, but my question was from archeological PoV: how dangerous is to study dead things in OA and how many precaution do you need.

It would depend on the thing and the source of thing. Probably also how you define the term 'dead'.

Some possible examples:

a) Archeologists are examining a dead civ (Terragen or xenosophont) that employs something similar to ancient Egyption burial rites, including the use of herbs and spices or other plants in the coffin/tomb/whatever. Some of the whatever still has a (pleasant) scent and (much like all else in the area) is covered in dust. The dust also contains spores or encysted viruses for a virulent genetically engineered disease created by either the dead civ or something else (rogue or ahuman transapient) that came along and planeted it later.

b) Archeologists are examining a dead civ (probably Terragen). In the course of their studies they come across a religious or philosophical text that they end up translating. The contents of the book are published and disseminated back to the archeologist's home civilization. It turns out the ideas contained in the book are compelling to a large chunk of the population and the religion/philosophy is essentially reborn and spreads widely in the new civ. It is not until several generations later that it turns out that the belief system has a tendency to split into warring schisms that eventually escalates to a civil war that kills off nearly a third of the population.

c) Archeologists are examining a dead civ (Terragen or xenosophont). In the course of this they come across the genome for a biological construct the civ apparently created as a pet or children's toy. When engenerated, the result is a hugely cute little animal that is extremely endearing to a lot of humans. The animal is reproduced in large numbers and in time a lot of them are to be found on the planet. And then the population of the critters hits some peak point - and they turn poisonous and start breeding tremendously faster than before (think large litters that grow quickly) and start displacing everything else in the local ecosystem and attacking the population.

d) Various forms of software could be found when studying dead civs that seem to be terribly useful or even to be sentient or sophont in their own right - perhaps appearing to be recorded AIs or uploads that are now being rescued. But some time later it turns out that they are some form of software weapon, attacking computer networks. Or they are memetic weapons - spreading social disruption in any of various ways - all while still seeming to be people (at least for a time).

Protection against these things would vary in difficulty depending on the source (Transapient created versions of this could be devilishly hard to protect against unless one has a friendly transap of equal or greater S-level available.) and how sneaky the source was.

Just some thoughts,

Todd