Page "The Mote in God's Eye" Paragraph 15

During the evacuation, three MacArthur midshipmen escape from the ship in lifeboats.

Unfortunately, these were reconstructed by the descendants of the escaped Watchmakers, and automatic controls force a landing in an unpopulated area of Mote Prime.

Exploring unsupervised for the first time, they find a fortified dome-like structure whose doors are locked by a puzzle that requires relatively advanced knowledge of astronomy to solve.

It is a perfectly maintained yet completely deserted building that appears to be some type of museum.

Every aspect of Motie civilization is preserved in detail, including in-place fragments of several smaller domes which have been violently shattered.

The exhibits as a whole provide evidence of a very long and violent history, though the Moties had carefully portrayed themselves to the Expedition members as completely peaceful.