There's actually a benefit in instances for Archaeology

[Zao]

Might be old news for some, but I just discovered a "Strange Fountain" in ToT, which gave me a 10% damage bonus to all nagas in the instance for the cost of one "Highborne Scroll".

I've also seen an Obelisk in HoO, but couldn't activate it since I didn't have a hyroglyph.

It's pretty neat if you ask me, although not too useful for me as a tank.

For reference: I've got skill 470 now and they didn't appear for me before I had Illustrious Grand Master.

[Deleted]

Its a buff for the whole party, Nothing game changing, But *shrug*.
For example, The one in the stonecore reduces all physical damage by 5%. Its just, as blizz said "Fish feast quality"

[Deleted]

Well, that was the initial (post-removal of "path of the titans") idea for archaeology: That fun little concept on the side which doesn't make or break your game but might just be a nice bonus

I personally didn't know of those buffs though, so that's some nice information. Is there a skill requirement or can anyone high enough to find scrolls/hieroglyphs/etc activate them?

[Zao]

I didn't notice them previously...but that might just be because I didn't look at them.

They have a Daily Exclamation mark above them, so you should see them on your minimap.